A Journey of Self
by Schiaparelli
Summary: The UEC and the Unknowns lock into pitched battle once more, as the Nadesico begins its biggest, craziest mission to date...
1. Prologue

Author's Note: This story takes place about a year after _The Prince of Darkness_.  To maintain the flavor of the series, I have decided to include English versions of Japanese words in this story.  Provided below is a list; it's not very long, but some of them you may not be familiar with. Besides, it is far more fun to say "Hasha!" than "Fire!," ne? I'm not sure how much I'll be updating, but I plan to finish this story, don't worry.  If you have any comments, feel free to review for me, but be nice okay?

Hai: Yes

Baka: Stupid, idiot or fool (this happens to be Ruri's favorite word ^_^)

Hasha: Fire (as in fire the gun)

Arigato (Gozaimashda): Thank you (very much)

Konichiwa: Good afternoon (loosely translated as Hello)

Nani: What (the "i" at the end is pronounced as a long "e", as in deed)

Kanchou: Captain

-san: A suffix that essentially means "Mr." or "Mrs."; it is a term of respect to an adult.

-chan: A suffix used with a friend, or for someone younger than you.

-kun: I'm not quite sure what this suffix means, but Ruri uses it when talking with Haley; I suppose it's used between brother/sister or maybe a polite term between friends who are of the same age?

With that, let's start the prologue!

The vastness of space stretched out before her; a blanket of velvet black with a liberal sprinkling of bright stars that speckled the canvas before her.  Other than the man-made sounds produced by Omoikane, there was utter silence.  A silence that would be more than welcome for a couple looking for some privacy, she sadly mused.

_It had been four years since the end of the Great War between the Jovians and Earth.  A year since the Martian Successors' revolt had been thwarted by the Nadesico-C.  A year since Tenkawa-san and the Kanchou, Yurika-san, had disappeared from her life for the second, and perhaps final, time._

_The silence made her so lonely.  Unbeknownst to the rest of the crew, her eyes subtly shifted from a look of neutral passivity to one of restrained sadness._

_Where are you, Akito? And why won't you come back?_

_There was only silence, as the Nadesico-C traveled through space from the Earth to the Moon, alone, among the stars._

_As a single fifteen year old girl sat on her captain's chair, immersed in melancholy thought, a much different and more trying set of circumstances was unfolding simultaneously, in a distant sector of the solar system._

_There are nine planets in the solar system; the Great War was fought between two, Earth and Jupiter.  The Jovians were originally lunar rebels who were cast out by the UEC a little over a century ago; forced to flee to Jupiter, they found an ancient relic left behind by an unknown civilization: a factory that had the technology to produce Zeroes, Battas, and Chulips.  It was this factory that allowed the Jovians to construct an advanced robotic fleet to attack Mars, Earth, and the Moon._

_But where did this factory come from? Who put it there, and what secrets might this factory, and that civilization, contain?_

_These questions were of great importance to one person, though perhaps not as important as his life.  And his life was in great danger right now._

_Somewhere between Jupiter and Saturn, in the dead wasteland of space, a pitched, desperate battle was taking place.  A single, lone, pink Aestivalis danced and darted in the vacuum, desperately trying to evade a salvo of missiles that exploded into deadly beautiful flowers of fire in its wake._

_The helmeted pilot grimaced as his mecha rocked from a near-miss.  Swarms of metallic starcraft were zipping around him, launching never-ending salvos of missiles.  Activating his IFS, the pilot corkscrewed his Aesti into a violent spiral downward, before abruptly turning left, avoiding the majority of the missiles.  A single finger depressed a trigger, and a string of white-hot tracers leapt from his assault rifle, boring straight into one of the enemy mecha.  It exploded spectacularly, taking about five others with it, he noted with some satisfaction.  _

_His targeting reticule landed squarely on another target, but just as he was about to press the trigger, a single missile exploded nearby, sending shrapnel straight through the rifle, rendering it useless. Swearing violently, the pilot put the Aestivalis on full throttle, barreling through the mass of enemy mecha with his distortion field at maximum; rewarded with one or two explosions, he inhaled slowly and closed his eyes._

_Lapis…Lapis…_

_Suddenly, the void of space filled spectacularly with an awesome number of explosions.  Silhouetted in the violent death-throes of the mechas, the pink Aestivalis raced onward, its fists dented and battered from breaking apart steel.  A never-ending swarm of metallic beasts raced after it._

_Similarly, about fifty kilometers away, a Nergal-built corvette called the Eucharis was in a bind itself.  Swarmed with enemy mecha and badly damaged, the corvette's transposition engine was at about 30% nominal power, and its powerful gravity blast cannon was damaged beyond repair. The distortion field was barely holding on; a couple more hits would finish the Eucharis and its passengers off for sure.  This was noted grimly by the pink Aestivalis, and for what seemed like an eternity, he fought like a madman to defend his ship._

_A searing white-hot explosion rent the fabric of space asunder._

_Only silence remained._

Author's Notes: Well, that's the prologue for you!  Quite the cliffhanger, huh? I'll be writing the next couple of chapters soon, so it might be a couple days before I get the next chapter up.  Hope you like it; and no, I haven't killed off all the main characters. At least, not yet :-P.


	2. Chapter One

Jovian Home Fleet Command and Control Center 

The dark, cavernous room housing the command staff of the 2nd Jovian Home Defense Fleet erupted into a cacophony of red klaxons and alarm bells.  A furious battle was being waged in Jovian territory, and the main screen gave visual representations of the battleships involved in the fray.

The enemy had come out of nowhere, boson jumping on top of the defensive installations of Jupiter; in the first five minutes alone, twenty Yamma-class battleships and countless swarms of Battas had been lost.  Even though the defensive fleets had rallied and were fighting back, three out of the five orbiting command/control centers had been completely annihilated.

Essentially the only thing separating Jupiter from annihilation was the 2nd Home Defense Fleet.  Or at least, the remnants of it; green triangles denoting Jovian ships were rapidly disappearing from the map.  On the other hand, hardly any of the enemy ships (red triangles) had been destroyed.  The admiral in command had to admire the strategic artistry of the surprise attack; there was no way his forces could win.  But he would be damned before he just gave up and surrendered!  He turned to one of his communications officers.

"Send a dispatch warning to the UEC Command Center; tell them we're under attack and are requesting reinforcements!" he ordered.  The comm officer quickly complied. "All hands prepare for evacuation; we'll self-detonate the command center in the heart of the enemy fleet!"

Minutes later, the 2nd Defense Fleet's orbiting command center shuddered as booster rockets ignited, slowly pushing it out of its orbit with Jupiter.  As it slowly traveled toward the enemy fleet, swarms of silver mecha raced around it, desperately trying to destroy the massive object with salvo after salvo of missiles, to no avail.  The command center blew apart spectacularly into a raging fireball, consuming a large part of the enemy fleet with itself.

Tranquility Base 

A meeting to decide the outcome of the future was taking place.

The lunar installation Tranquility Base was the new headquarters for United Earth Spacey.  Completely remodeled, it was the perfect command/control center from which to direct the immensely powerful battleships of this distinguished service. Currently, at the conference and debriefing center located deep within the bowels of the station, twenty-four captains were attending to a matter of the gravest concern. Seated at the head of the table was Grand Admiral Misumaru Kouichiro, flanked on either side by Admirals Akiyama Genpachiro and Munetake Yoshisada.  Together, the three men controlled a fleet 200-ship strong that included the most powerful of all: the Nadesico-C, captained by the young, mysterious, and beautiful Hoshino Ruri.

"As you can see, we have called an emergency meeting of captains to discuss a situation that has occurred in Jovian space," Grand Admiral Misumaru began, pointedly ignoring the small sobs that came out from Akiyama's throat. "About five hours ago, an unknown fleet of ships appeared out of nowhere and caught the Jovian fleet by surprise; in a battle that lasted less than two hours, about 80% of the Jovian fleet was destroyed and we believe that Jupiter is now in the hands of an enemy that we have never yet encountered before."

A holographic screen embedded into the table glowed to life, projecting an image of Jovian space into the air.  Several different-sized shapes denoted Jovian and enemy ships alike, while criss-crossing lines denoted various vectors of space. 

 "Based on the scant communications that has reached us from Jupiter, the enemy has an interesting form of attack," Munetake said. The holographic enemy vessels began moving, while Jovian ships discreetly disappeared from sight. Interestingly enough, the enemy fleet seemed to move as a single organism, identifying threats and eliminating them much as a normal human would; or for that matter, a many-tentacled abomination. 

"As of now, this is about all the information we have on these despicable creatures," Akiyama managed to say between sobs. "We will be dispatching a small expeditionary force to reconnoiter and gather as much data as possible before we send an assault force to aid our brethren.  Hopefully, we will be able to find a weakness to exploit and send these slimy, no good, cursed, evil bastards back into whatever godforsaken slime hole they crawled out of so help me God…"Akiyama lapsed into a fresh stream of tears for his home planet.

Patting Akiyama's shoulder kindly while the Jovian wailed in misery, the Grand Admiral looked out to the assembled captains sitting quietly in their chairs. "The expeditionary force we will send will consist of one high mobile battleship and two escort frigates.  Captains Rutherford and Watanabe, you will be escorting Captain Hoshino and the Nadesico to Jupiter.  You'll be given more details when you reach your ships. Good luck."

"Kanchou, will we really be needing all of this luggage for our mission?" Lieutenant Makibi Haley complained bitterly.  "There are five bags here! Surely you can get rid of something, right?"  
            "Sorry, Haley-kun," the pale-skinned fairy replied. "But the mission is projected to last nearly three months, according to Omoikane.  We will not be in our regular housing for a prolonged period of time. Besides," she added, "at least four of these bags are yours."

Haley blushed furiously as he realized the truth of this statement.  At the same time, there were several loud knocks on the door behind them.

"Oi! Are you guys ready to go yet or what? I hope you're not doing anything inappropriate to the Kanchou in there, Haley!" an impertinent voice called out.

"Saburouta-san!" Haley yelled, a bright scarlet red. "Don't be such a pervert! I would never do such a thing!"

"Baka," Ruri calmly suggested while opening the door, revealing a tall Jovian with dyed blond hair dressed in slacks and a Hawaiian T-shirt.

"It's about time," Lieutenant Saburouta admonished, poking Haley teasingly in the ribs. "You two must've been having some fun packing together in the Captain's room."

"SABUROUTA-SAN!" The two friends immediately erupted into their usual obnoxiously loud routine, while subconsciously following Ruri down the elevator shaft into the hangar, where the Nadesico-C proudly sat, awaiting launch.  Ruri quietly checked her watch while Saburouta and Haley-kun bickered behind her; it was 1500 hours military time.  Expected time of departure was in three hours.  Turning around, she addressed her two principal officers, who fell silent at the sound of her voice.

"The Nadesico will be departing at 1800 hours.  That gives us three hours to stock provisions, store the Aestivalis', their weapons, and their ammunition, and to warm up the phase transition engine.  Haley-kun, you will prep the Nadesico for launch and run a diagnostic test on Omoikane and the weapons systems." The short, spiky-haired teenager gulped and nodded uncertainly. "Saburouta-san, you will gather the Aestivalis pilots and arrange transport for their mechas onboard the Nadesico, as well as secure provisions and ammunition." At this, the Jovian saluted smartly and left at a quick jog, while Ruri continued her calm walk towards the Nadesico with a puffing Haley in tow as he struggled to carry all five (of which four were his) pieces of luggage.

"Kanchou! Oi, Kanchou!" rang out Haley's nervous voice.

"Hai, Haley-kun?"

"Do you really think I'm ready to activate Omoikane and prep the Nadesico all by myself? I've never done that before; I'm only backup!"

"You commanded the Nadesico-C while I hacked into the Martian Successor mainframe; you have already shown yourself capable of controlling the ship," Ruri pointed out.

"But…" Haley protested.  At this, Ruri turned around and fixed him with her beautiful golden eyes.  Haley swallowed nervously and blushed a little.  It was hard for anyone to stand up to his Kanchou's stare.

"Lieutenant Haley, you have already shown yourself capable of commanding the Nadesico; your fears of inadequacy simply illogical emotions," the Captain stated.  She placed her hand on Haley's shoulder; the young boy jumped. "I have confidence in your ability to handle the Nadesico for the next few hours," she stated quietly, before turning away.

Haley-kun stared after her, his mind slightly numb. 

_Strange, she never touches anyone_, he thought. _What just happened?_

After a moment, his face turned indignant. "And while Saburouta-san and I slave away over preparations, what is the Kanchou going to do? Probably play some video games; she better not beat my score in Super Kanji Fighters!  Took me two months to beat her high score," he muttered as he trudged up to the Nadesico.

As Lieutenants Saburouta and Haley made feverish preparations for Nadesico's launch, Ruri lay in her sparsely decorated room, with her fish mobile hanging over her head.  Lying lengthwise on her bed, she intently read a small book, her eyes drinking in every detail as she turned the pages.  Next to her was a small notepad, from which she made occasional notes.

As she read, a slight smile crept unto her face. 

Author's Notes: In addition to the occasional American translation of a Japanese word, I've decided to also keep the way the names are pronounced. That is, last name followed by first name.  So, instead of Ruri Hoshino, it's Hoshino Ruri; it just sounds better that way to me.  Also, I'm flattered to have 1 review in 1 day! This is my first fan fic so I'm not expecting a whole shower of praises.  My reviewer brought up the subject that Ruri should be 16 during this time, but I'm not so sure.  She was 11 during the series, and three years passed (The Blank of 3 Years) until the movie, so she's 14, right? This takes one year after the movie, so she must be 15.  But 15 or 16, it makes no difference! Well, hope you enjoy this latest chapter, I stayed up late just to finish writing it in a day!


	3. Chapter Two

At 1640 hours, the Nadesico-C was ready for launch.  Makibi Haley let out a small sigh of relief as a stream of positive reports flowed in from Omoikane concerning the ship's status.  So far the warm-up had been relatively simple from the get-go, and for that Haley-kun was grateful.  _Prepping the ship up for launch wasn't all that bad,_ he thought smugly to himself.  _Looks like the Kanchou was right after all; heck, maybe I can even get command of a ship in a few years just like her!_  His eyes lit up at the thought, and he spent the next five minutes reveling in fantasy glory, leading his own mobile battleship to triumphant victory against all odds.  _I can see it already, _he thought excitedly, _Captain Makibi Haley, savior of Earth, natural leader and warrior!_

"Haley-kun, why are you drooling out of the side of your mouth?" a petite female voice asked out of thin air. Haley gave out a little yelp and whirled around, beet-red, seeing Captain Hoshino Ruri behind him.

"Um…nothing…I was just…uh…checking up on the computer…yeah, that's what it was," he stammered out as Ruri made her way to her captain's chair, completely unfazed.  "Ano…Kanchou, the Nadesico-C is ready for launch," Haley finished quietly, slightly embarrassed. _Geez, was I really drooling? But the Kanchou isn't the type to make jokes. I can't believe I was that much into that little dream! Lieutenant Haley, you are a baka!_

Ruri seemed to have a ghost of a bemused expression as she watched Haley berate himself with his hands.  Quietly, she slipped out a small paperback book, a notepad and pencil, and began reading.  Five minutes into her book, Omoikane flashed a message on a vid-screen, informing her that a priority traffic message was coming through. Ruri nodded once, and the vid-screen disappeared, replaced instead with a live video feed directly from the Grand Admiral's office.

"Ah, Ruri-san, there you are!" Admiral Misumaru's voice boomed across the Nadesico's bridge. "How are preparations going?"  
            "Provisions are proceeding at a satisfactory pace, but the crew of the Nadesico are not scheduled to arrive for another twenty minutes, Admiral," Ruri replied in her normal monotone. "Is there something you wish to discuss?"

"Ah yes," Misumaru coughed once to clear his throat. "There has been a slight change in your mission parameters."  

"Is there?" Ruri asked, noting that Haley had straightened up a little bit, his expression both nervous and serious as he listened in on the conversation.

"It appears that the enemy has advanced far more rapidly than we thought. Already, lead elements of their fleet have come into contact with Mars.  The UE Council has decided it would be best to dispatch the Nadesico and her escort squadron to Mars first to bolster the defenses," Misumaru said, looking thoroughly displeased.

"That decision is completely illogical," Ruri protested quietly. "How can the UE Council expect us to defend Mars adequately when we have almost no knowledge of the enemy forces?"

"That's what I told them!" the Admiral protested. "But those old fools have never listened to us, and never will. Nevertheless, your new orders are to travel to Mars and help in the defense for at least the first assault; then, I'm sure we can get started on that recon mission."  Misumaru pulled out a small sheet of paper and donned a pair of reading spectacles. "As a result, we've decided to add two more ships to your command; a high-speed cruiser and another battleship.  In fact, you might know these two," he added, with a small smile.

Ruri tilted her head and raised her eyebrows.

"The Amaryllis, commanded by Captain Jun Aoi, and the Crusader, commanded by Captain Ararigi."  The Admiral chuckled. "It seems you have an old comrade and a fan of yours to help you out."

Ruri shook her head.  She didn't mind having Jun around; in fact, she was a bit glad he was coming, but Ararigi scared her slightly.  He seemed a little too obsessed with her when she met him during the Martian insurrection.  _That event was somewhat embarrassing, _she reflected.  "Very well then, Admiral, thank you for informing me."

It was then that she noticed that Admiral Misumaru's face had grown somewhat red, as if he was blushing.  _How odd_, she thought.  _Is he ill? _She was about to ask when she recalled similar conversations between the Admiral and his daughter…and how the Admiral would always comment on Yurika-san's…_growth_.

"Is something the matter, Admiral?" she asked tentatively. 

Her question seemed to jolt him out of his reverie. "Oh, no, nothing, of course!" he said hastily. "However," and his face turned red again, "I must admit, you've grown quite a bit, Ruri-san.  You're quite the beautiful lady."

The Nadesico's captain raised an eyebrow while slightly blushing, both embarrassed and annoyed, at the same time. _I knew it_. "Thank you, Admiral.  If that will be all, then I should be getting back to the Nadesico's launch preparations."

"Oh, but of course," Misumaru managed to say before she cut off the video feed. "Baka," she murmured to herself.

"Ano…Kanchou," Haley began shyly. "Ano…what was that all about? Why was he blushing like that?"

Ruri turned around to look at him, a faint smile on her face. "Grand Admiral Misumaru is…an interesting person." She took a quick look at the status boards. "I see everything is ready for launch. Good work, Haley-kun."

"Oh…it was nothing, really," Haley laughed, a little embarrassed. "You were right after all; prepping Omoikane and the ship really wasn't that hard!  I was thinking…maybe in a few years or so, I could get command of my own ship?" he asked hopefully.

"Perhaps," Ruri said absent-mindedly, not noticing the way Haley's face lit up when she confirmed his hopes. She was too busy examining the status boards to pay much attention. "I see Lieutenant Saburouta and the Aestivalis pilots aren't here yet."

"Oh yeah, he sent off a message a while ago, while you were still in your room," Haley said. "I think he said he might be a little late in arriving, and that we should just launch; he'd join us up later.  Apparently, the pilots we're getting are like "horses from hell," according to him.  Though, that's an awfully deep phrase coming from someone like Saburouta-san," Haley mused out-loud.

This time, Ruri's faint smile turned into a smirk for a split second before fading away.

"I see…"

At precisely 1715 hours, the Nadesico's crew had arrived, and the ship was ready for launch.  The launch sequence itself would take just under half an hour, so Ruri decided to go ahead and begin a little early.  The entire bridge crew was already assembled on deck.

            "Lieutenant Haley, warm up the phase transition engine," the Captain quietly commanded.

            "Hai!"

            "All personnel, please complete the final checklists before launch sequence." A chorus of affirmatives greeted her command.  Ten minutes later, the engines were fully warmed up.  At the same time, the checklists were starting to finish.

            "All living quarters, prepped and braced for launch!"

            "Energy discharge level is good to go."

            "Interior precaution level switched to pattern B!"

            Haley-kun checked his monitors. "Phase engine output is nominal," he reported. "Everything else is okay!"

            Ruri nodded. "Launch." Deep within the bowels of the Nadesico, six powerful phase-transition engines ignited, greedily sucking in energy.  Slowly, the Nadesico eased out of its docking space in Tranquility Base, picking up momentum as the engines accelerated the ship at an increasing speed.  The hangar bay doors that led from open space into the lunar compound slowly opened, revealing a black sky glittering with countless diamonds of white.  Fifteen minutes later, the Nadesico cleared the base and began to lazily orbit, waiting for the launch of its four escort ships.

            As soon as the Nadesico broke away from the compound, a vid-screen flashed in front of Ruri, revealing a stocky man with tanned skin, tousled hair, and crooked glasses.  He held a wrench in one hand, and was threateningly whacking it into his other hand; dressed in the normal blue uniform of the maintenance crews, his bomber jacket lent him an appearance that remind Ruri of someone she knew.

            "Seiya-san?" Ruri asked, surprised.

            The man barked a harsh laugh. "How can you get me confused with Seiya?" he asked, giggling like a maniac. "He and I both know that I am the better looking of the two!"

            Ruri gazed at him, puzzled. "If you're not Seiya-san, who are you?"

            The stranger pulled himself up straighter, and beamed proudly. "Why, I'm Uribatake Shinta, Seiya's twin!" He pushed his face close next to the vid-screen, and grinned crazily. "Maintenance guru and samurai otaku; at your service!"

            The bridge was quiet as everyone stared at the vid-screen; Shinta's eccentricity had taken them all by surprise.  This evidently pleased Uribatake very much, as he twirled around the screen in a sickeningly humorous dance. "Aha! I see my good looks and powerful presence have already struck awe and fear into the hearts of my fellow crewmembers!" he shouted joyfully.

            Ruri blinked several times before shaking her head. Shinta and Seiya-san were exactly alike. "Ano, what is it that you want, Shinta-san?"

            Shinta, who was about 15 feet away from the vid-screen at that time, suddenly zeroed in to the point that his cheek was against the screen in less than 4 nanoseconds, according to Ruri's calculations. His face had adopted an expression of the gravest concern she had ever seen. "Well, Kanchou, it seems we have a slight problem over here…"

            "And what might that be, Seiya—Shinta-san?"

            At this, Shinta exploded into a fury. "WHERE THE HELL ARE MY AESTIVALIS'? THE ONLY REASON WHY I SIGNED THE MILITARY CONTRACT WAS TO PERSONALLY MODIFY AND BEEF UP MY OWN MECHAS! DAMN IT ALL! DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN IT! AND LOOK AT ALL THESE BEAUTIFUL BABIES I HAD FOR THEM….ALL FOR NOTHING! DAMN IT ALL!" he wailed, as the vid-screen panned to reveal pile after pile of personalized Aesti weapons that must've took Shinta years to make.  _Just like Seiya-san after all_, Ruri thought, as she closed the vid-screen, cutting off Uribatake mid-wail.

            With relative silence reigning over the bridge once again, Ruri took a closer look at the bridge crew of the Nadesico.  She'd already met one crazy baka on this ship; were there any others?  The computer operator, who maintained and regulated Omoikane, was Lieutenant Makibi Haley.  She already knew him.  The tactical actions officer, and also the executive officer, or XO, of the ship was Lieutenant Takasugi Saburouta. She knew who he was also.

She transferred her gaze to the left and down, where the helmspilot sat.  She queued up a vid-screen of the crewmember.  The helmswoman, Yoshizumi Kotone, was short, and according to the profile, about 24 years of age.  She had big, round eyes and an innocent smile that seemed to bubble with cheerfulness and energy.  Long curls of dyed dark-blue hair cascaded down her head, around her ears, and down to the small of her back, reminding Ruri a little of Yurika.  She shook her head sadly, and transferred her gaze, and the vid-screen, to another crewmember.

            The communications officer was a man this time instead of a woman: Kawabata Akira was his name.  Instead of the sweet voice of Megumi Reinard, ships hailing the Nadesico would instead hear the glib smooth-talking, gravy-like voice of Akira.  According to his profile, Ruri saw, he was about 27 years of age, and had a slight problem with gambling. No, she corrected herself upon seeing his criminal record, he had a major problem with gambling and the kinds of people it attracted.  Studying his picture, she saw that his face was tanned to the point it seemed almost leathery, and a long torturous scar etched its way across his left cheek.  It reminded Ruri of a character in that baka-baka TV show, Gekigangar…who was it? _Ah yes, it was Tetsuo Ryuuzaki…the pilot that replaced Joe after he died. _She started, a bit surprised. _How did I remember that? Ah yes…it was his favorite TV show.  _Her eyes darkened for the slightest bit, before she resumed her usual composure.  

            By now, it was 1754 hours; it would be at least another 6 minutes before the rest of the escort squadron would launch.  Ruri sighed, and leaned back in her chair.

Six minutes later, Omoikane displayed a large screen in the Nadesico's bridge, tracking the position of the four escort ships as they departed from the lunar surface.  A few seconds later, a lone screen popped up in front of Ruri, revealing the face of Captain Aoi Jun.  Upon seeing her, the young man's face burst into a wide grin.

            "Ruri!" he exclaimed warmly. "It's so nice to see you after—" Another vid-screen suddenly popped up in front of Jun, cutting him off.

            "Ah, Captain Hoshino Ruri, it's a pleasure and honor to serve you again," Ararigi intoned, as his hungry eyes drank in every detail of the petite fairy's body. "I see you are well and as beautiful as always; that is most gratifying for me and my crew." Ararigi made a small bow with his hand as he spoke.

            "Ah…arigato, Ararigi-san," Ruri replied, somewhat uneasily. "You look well yourself."

            Ararigi beamed back. "I am always well when it comes to serving such a magical young lady…" but before he could continue with his fawning remarks, Ruri queued up Jun's screen again.

            "What was that all about?" Jun demanded. "Why does everyone always cut me off like that?"

            "That question I cannot answer," Ruri said simply. "However, it has been a while, Captain Aoi Jun."

            Jun grinned again. "Yes, it has. I see you've grown up a bit, Ruri. How are things going?"

            Before Ruri could respond, Jun's screen was again shut out by another two vid-screens displaying two similarly dressed UE Spacey captains.  One was clearly Japanese with a crew cut and sharp shrewd eyes, while the other one seemed more Anglican, with the same crew cut, brown hair and equally sharp shrewd blue eyes.  Their similarity and blandness was amazing.

            "Greetings, Captain Hoshino Ruri of the NS-966-C Nadesico, assigned to the UE Spacey 4th Fleet," both said simultaneously in an equally monotonous tone.  "We are Captains Rutherford and Watanabe of the Triton and the Cricket.  We will provide escort for your ship, along with Captains Jun and Ararigi." 

            "Ah…hai…" Ruri responded, while an ignored Jun wailed miserably behind the vid-screens. "It is a pleasure to meet you…"

            "Likewise," both replied at the same time yet again, "we shall be departing to Mars in approximately one hour. Until that time, farewell." Both screens disappeared simultaneously.

            Haley-kun whistled in amazement. "Sugoi, were those two guys robots, Kanchou? They acted the same, talked the same, looked the same…"

            "Yes, you are correct in that observation," Ruri murmured quietly, queuing up Jun's screen for the third time.  This time, the man looked a little angry.

            "Honestly!" he huffed. "Don't I get any respect around here? These insolent captains, just cutting me off like that! Who else is going to interrupt me now? Our new mysterious enemy, maybe?" he demanded.

            "Jun-san, I'm sure they didn't mean to purposefully—" Alarm klaxons rang out around the bridge, as Omoikane cut Jun's conversation off yet again, bringing a larger screen to bear.  Immediately, Haley-kun's fingers raced across his keyboard, analyzing and interpreting the data the Nadesico's computer was processing.

            "Multiple boson reactions, directly to starboard," he yelled. "Estimated distance…three hundred kilometers.  I count…twenty-five manifestations."

            Ruri nodded once and turned back to Jun's screen. "I'm sorry, Jun-san, but we're going to have to continue this conversation later." With that, her vid-screen disappeared from Jun's view.  The young captain sighed and hung his head. "It's always got to happen to me," he groaned.

Twenty-five silver ships materialized into lunar orbit.  But, these ships didn't really seem like space-faring vessels; their design was smooth and almost organic, with the majority of the surface made up of smooth hemispheres and graceful curves; this was in direct contrast with the boxy man-built cruisers of UE Spacey.  As the Nadesico turned hard to starboard to meet them, the small fleet of silver ships began to move as one, slowly accelerating through space.  Swarms of small silver specks cascaded out of spherical pods hanging underneath the seed-like cruisers; hordes of silver mechas armed with missile pods.  About five minutes away, the four escort ships also picked up speed in a desperate attempt to head them off before they could severely damage the isolated Nadesico.

All this Ruri observed quietly.  Swiveling to Haley-kun, she ordered, "Power up the gravity blast cannon and raise the distortion field."

"Hai!" Once more, Haley-kun's fingers swept across the keyboard.  A distinct humming noise was heard in the bridge as the Nadesico's powerful gravity blast cannon was charged up in about 10 seconds. "Gravity blast cannon, ready to fire!"  

Ruri selected some buttons on her console, and settled back as a series of advanced hydraulics lifted her chair up and out of the console and into the air.  When her chair had reached about twelve feet away from the console, it stopped and a sphere of data screens encircled her.  Screens flashed "Ruri Mode" signs all across the ship.  Haley-kun likewise did the same thing.  

Nadesico's captain selected a few screens that displayed the formation of the enemy fleet, and sensor information that measured the level of their distortion fields.  Working quickly and skillfully, Ruri sketched out a path for the gravity blast to pass through, to maximize the amount of damage.  This done, she sent the information to Haley with a flick of her hand.  When the lieutenant gave a thumbs-up in affirmation, Ruri nodded her head, and checked over her data once more.

"Gravity blast cannon, hasha," she quietly intoned.

The entire ship shuddered as a single bolt of white-hot energy interlaced with black streaks of lightning arced through space towards the enemy fleet.  All twenty-five ships were engulfed in the resulting explosion, but twenty-three made it out virtually unscathed.  Haley groaned in disappointment.

"I thought that blast would've taken out a few more; we have the most powerful cannon in the fleet," he complained.

"True, but the blast did severely weaken their distortion fields," Ruri replied, gazing at the vid-screens.  Selecting another screen from the sphere, she opened up a communications screen with Jun. "Captain," she said, "if I am correct, your ship is armed specifically to deal with small mecha like the ones this enemy is deploying?" Jun's image nodded.

"You want me to take them out? We're nearly in range for our phase transition batteries," he said.

"Yes, that would be appreciated; I do not wish to waste gravity blasts against the enemy fighter craft.  How long until the Amaryllis reaches firing range?"

Jun looked off-screen quickly for a second, before turning back. "We're pushing our engines to the max right now, Ruri.  We should be there in…oh, three minutes."

Ruri nodded. "Very well then," she said, before signing off.  She swiveled to the communications officer. "Akira-san, if you could open a comm channel with the Crusader?"

The leathery man cracked a quick grin and donned his headset.  "Yo, Crusader," he drawled into the microphone. "This is the Nadesico, the most bad-ass ship on this side of the moon. You over there or what? Our illustrious Captain wants a word with you." A few seconds later, he nodded and gave a thumbs up to Ruri.

A lone vid-screen popped up, and Ararigi bowed once more. "Is there something our fairy would like us to do?" he asked magnanimously, while giving an evil eye to Akira.  The impetuous comm officer stuck up his middle finger, and Ararigi scowled.

"Yes, I'm sending you a data file right now," Ruri said while encrypting a message and sending it via hyperlink. Ararigi looked down away from the screen, reading the message, and smiled once. "A brilliant plan, my fairy. I'll send this to the escort frigates at once.  Ararigi, out." The vid-screen vanished.

"Kanchou?" Haley-kun asked, waiting for directions.

"Charge the gravity blast cannon again; wide-spread pattern this time," Ruri ordered. "Catch as many enemy ship as possible in the blast, but configure the beam so it weakens the distortion field closest to the escort ships."

Haley-kun nodded once, immediately seeing the Kanchou's course of attack.  The cannon's power meter rose rapidly, and the gravity blast was ready in another ten seconds flat. "Gravity blast cannon, ready to fire!"  
            "Hasha!" Another beam, this one significantly wider, shot out from the Nadesico's brow, and caught the enemy fleet once more.  Vid-screens from Omoikane gauged the strength of the distortion fields once more, and Ruri saw with some satisfaction that their effectiveness had gone down to barely above 30%.  _Ararigi's attack should be coming at any time_, she thought.

And indeed, right on schedule, another more concentrated gravity blast beam raced through the void from the Crusader, right into the middle of the enemy formation.  Smaller beams arced around it; battery fire from the escort frigates' more conventional laser weapons.  Five of the enemy vessels immediately exploded upon impact, lighting up space with brilliant flashes of light.  Two more broke in half, and collided with a third ship, adding more spheres of fire to the already blinding display.  The enemy dispersed in confusion.

            Haley-kun gave a small cheer.  Fifteen seconds later, another gravity blast from both the Nadesico and the Crusader slammed into the enemy fleet; another ten ships vanished inside spectacular explosions.  It was a little early for celebrating, though; Omoikane flashed a red alert warning as the swarm of silver mecha, having evaded the brunt of the gravity blasts, closed in on the Nadesico.

            Ruri wasn't overtly concerned though; by now the Amaryllis was in range, and it was specifically equipped with mini-gravitron blast cannons like those on Nergal's secret Black Sarena that Tenkawa had used in the Martian insurrection.  A hail of light-blue beams spewed forth from the high-speed cruiser, and silver mecha started exploding in tiny puffs of flame.  But, they kept on driving in, hard and fast, towards the battleship.

            "Kanchou," Haley-kun said, a little worried. "Our distortion field can stand up easily against energy weapons, but it provides little protection against the missile salvoes that these things launch.  Maybe we should pull back a little?"

            Before Ruri could respond, the space ahead of them burst into a long ribbon of flame as droves of silver mecha were suddenly shot down.  Haley-kun sputtered in surprise, and then Lieutenant Saburouta's visage graced the vid-screen onboard the bridge.

            "Hey," he shouted heartily, "I think it's time for my flashy entrance, don't you think? I brought the cavalry with me!" He laughed heartily.

            "Saburouta-san," Haley-kun muttered under his breath. "He can be downright annoying sometimes."  Overhearing this, Saburouta's vid-screen zoomed down into Haley's console, taking him by surprise.

            "Hmmmm, what's this I hear, Haley?" he drawled. "At least I get the job done, and with such an artistic flair! It's something a child like you wouldn't be able to accomplish," he teased, emphasizing the word "child" before signing off.

            "SABUROUTA-SAN!" Haley-kun screamed at the empty air.

As Saburouta-san and his five mysterious Aestivalis pilots wove an intricate dance of destruction around the silver mecha, accompanied by deadly needles of energy from the Amaryllis, the Nadesico and Crusader prepped one last gravity blast.  The combined discharge completely sundered the rest of the disorganized enemy fleet, and when the last enemy capital ship exploded, the silver mecha suddenly stopped moving and began drifting through space.  The once-deadly machines were now simply space junk.

"Interesting," Saburouta observed as he made his way back to the Nadesico. "I guess that means these mechas are computer controlled from the capital ships?"

"Yes, that seems to be the case," Ruri replied. "An interesting observation, and one we should both report and keep in mind for the next battle."

"But of course, Kanchou," the Jovian grinned.

"So, Lieutenant Saburouta, what pilots have you brought to the Nadesico today?"

At this, the Jovian's face broke into a dashing grin. "They're horsies from hell that go 'neigh,' Kanchou, and I think you know them well!"

"I see." Ruri smiled.

Author's Notes: Wow, this was a LONG chapter! But hey, a lot of cool stuff happened, right? I'm trying to make a rough parallel between the first Nadesico and this Nadesico's voyage.  While they won't be identical, I think it'll be vaguely familiar.  I included some new Japanese vocabulary:

            Sugoi: Wow, or awesome

            Ano: Um, well, or like

            Kawaii: Cute; this one hasn't showed up yet, but I have a feeling it will.

Well, I think this chapter went by really well; outlining before I wrote helped with the organization a lot, so I think I'll keep on doing that.  The other reviews I got were very encouraging. And yeah, I guess Ruri is 16 after all…hmm….I guess I'll put in a "Happy Birthday Ruri" chapter or something.  Ha, that would be a pretty funny chapter!

            I'm striving to make the first couple chapters a mix of humor and action, while reserving the more romantic and serious parts for the end; this is set after the PoD, after all, and that was a pretty dark and serious (albeit awesome) movie. Please R&R!


	4. Chapter Three

Somewhere between Jupiter and Mars

The remnants of the once-proud 2nd Jovian Home Defense Fleet were waging a fighting retreat all the way back to Mars.  The once 200-ship strong armada was now reduced to about 62 ships, of which only 15 were in the battleship class.  With almost no hope of winning, the fleet's orders from the UEC were to slow down the enemy as much as possible while collecting data for analysis in order for the UEC strategic wizards to conjure up a miracle battle plan to defeat the enemy, now dubbed the Unknowns.

Currently, a small skirmish was being waged between the Unknowns and the Jovians, and space was lit up again as powerful blasts of energy were fired off from either side, criss-crossing paths, slamming into ships, annihilating fighter craft, and ending lives.  While the carnage raged on, a lone Jovian research vessel, the _Cowboy Johnny_, began recording every bit of data on the Unknowns' movements using sensitive detection equipment and a gigantic directional antennae over 85 feet long.

            Fifteen minutes into the battle, the _Cowboy Johnny_'s sensors picked up a lone object floating in space from the direction of Jupiter.  A quick broad-spectrum analysis of the object revealed it to be a battered but relatively intact Aestivalis.  Intrigued by the unusual discovery, the captain of the research vessel made the decision to stray slightly off course in order to pick up the mecha.  A transmission was sent, and two of the fleet's precious high-speed cruisers were detached and sent to escort the _Cowboy Johnny_ and protect it from any stray Unknowns.

            Powerful gravitron beams from the _Cowboy Johnny_ were released, and snagged the semi-metalloid frame of the Aestivalis, dragging it quickly into the hangar bay of the vessel.  Engineering teams quickly swarmed it, studying it for signs of damage and stress.  The Aestivalis, pink in color, had apparently taken a severe beating, and the chief engineer clicked his tongue in distress as he observed the damage.

            "This poor mecha took one hell of a beating," he observed, noting the shorn off armor plates on the chest and a missing arm. "Pop the pilot's hatch and see if anyone's left alive," he called to the rest of the crew, who responded with a chorus of "ayes" while tearing the cover off the pilot's compartment.  Surprisingly, it was empty; the chief engineer and his men had expected a body, at the very least. What was an empty Aestivalis doing in the middle of nowhere?  Thoughts of an Earthling conspiracy crossed the engineer's mind before he dismissed it as the result of too many _Gekigangar_ episodes, and went back to work.  It would take a while before the Aestivalis was completely repaired, but the damn things were expensive; the UEC would want it salvaged at the very least if it was possible.

            While the engineers called in parts and tools and various other things to satisfy their mechanical desires, a lone figure in a blue jump suit watched in the shadows, unseen and unknown to the entire crew aboard the _Cowboy Johnny_.  As the chief engineer bellowed out orders, the lone man watched in silence.  Suddenly, his body tensed.

            "They're coming," he whispered, just as the alarm klaxons went off.  

Aboard the Nadesico-C

The reunion had been a joyful one for at least half the party involved.

After the rather exciting battle over the moon, Saburouta-san and his "horsies from hell" had landed aboard the Nadesico, and after showering and changing into uniforms, had raced up to the bridge to see their Captain, Hoshino Ruri.

Naturally, Ruri with her logically superior mind knew who was coming, even if their names had yet to be mentioned.  As she waited, the elevator doors opened, and the three female pilots rushed out to greet her, followed by a grinning Saburouta.

Amano Hikaru was the first to reach Ruri, and she gave her a big hug, chattering excitedly. "Oh, it's so great to see you again, Ruri-Ruri!" she exclaimed effusively. "It's been so long! A whole year, hasn't it? We've got so many stories to tell! I guess it wasn't so bad being activated again for reserve duty!"  

Subaru Ryoko, the green-haired aggressive tomboy pilot, was the second to greet Ruri, and she gave her an affectionate ruffle of the hair and a light punch to the shoulder.  Laughing at Ruri's slightly confused look, she said, "You sure have changed a lot, Ruri. I almost didn't recognize you back there!"

Ruri gave a slight shadow of a smile. "I suppose I have grown a little bit." She gave Hikaru and Ryoko a quick once-over "I see you two have also changed." And indeed, she was right.

Hikaru had given up her glasses and now wore contacts, which accounted for an incredible difference in beauty for her part.  Pretty enough with her glasses, the male members of the Nadesico took note that she was quite the knock-out now.  Whispers were exchanged, and the name Amano Hikaru was quickly added to the "Top 10 List of the Hottest Females aboard the Nadesico-C," at a classified ranking  Her hair had also changed from the short shoulder-length waves one year ago to a nice long ponytail that she accentuated with a few ribbons.

Ryoko's hair had changed color again from green during the Great War, to a dark blue during the Martian insurrection, and back to a light green.  Her hair was cut short as usual, but her face bore the strains and stresses of combat in the elite Lions' Sickle unit of the UEC.  A faint scar etched its way from her temple to her jaw, a mark left behind by a bit of shrapnel that had punched its way through her distortion field while she was fighting terrorists on earth, and one of her eyes was slightly discolored; the result of emergency surgery.  Naturally, the culprits had been severely punished by her and her Aestivalis, to put it politely.

"So, Ryoko-san, Hikaru-san, what are you two doing here aboard the Nadesico?" Ruri asked after taking this all in. "I thought you were commander of the Lions' Sickle unit," she said, pointing to Ryoko, "and I thought Hikaru-san was a manga artist.  What happened?"  At this, the two women exchanged looks and shrugged.

"I got a reactivation letter from the military, so I had to come aboard," Hikaru said. "They gave me a choice, so I could've stayed." She sighed dramatically. "But being a manga artist is tough work, and I hate how I have to stay up late every night just to make the weekly deadlines! I think if I take a brief leave of absence, it'll teach those stupid editors to respect me more!" she declared rebelliously.

Ryoko sighed, shaking her head. "As for me, I asked for a transfer from the Lions' Sickle to the Nadesico." She chuckled softly at Ruri's surprised expression. "I heard that the UEC won't be getting too involved in this, an that UE Spacey will be doing all the grunt work.  I don't want to get left out of the action, and besides, the Nadesico is where all my favorite memories are," she finished fondly, gazing around at the new ship.

"Which leaves just…" Ruri trailed off, looking straight ahead to where the last known Aestivalis member sat, cross-legged, in the still open elevator shaft, cradling a small Japanese banjo.  Smiling like a crazed woman, the deranged pilot strummed a demented cord, and chuckled softly.

"It's been a while….kanchou," she muttered, but before breaking into a fit of giggles. Ryoko groaned in misery, placing her head in her hands. "Even though I wanted to be transferred, I don't know if I can stand being around her again," she complained bitterly.

Ruri ignored the comment, even though she somewhat agreed with Ryoko. "Izumi-san," she said, "I thought you ran a bar on Earth. What are you doing here?"

"The bar?" the raven-haired women asked, with a distant look in her eyes. "The bar…barred me from coming," she said with a smile on her face.  Only silence greeted her latest joke, and she collapsed in a heap of laughter.

"I think what Izumi is trying to say is that when she received her activation letter, so she was so happy to join that she sort of set fire to her own bar.  Guess she just got that sick of it, right, Izumi?" Hikaru asked, unconsciously pushing up nonexistent glasses with her thumb (they had a habit to slip down when she wore them earlier).  Izumi only kept on chuckling.  The four young women stood in awkward silence for a few seconds.

"So…uh…Ruri…how's it going?" Ryoko asked softly.

Ruri returned her question with a gaze that revealed no emotion. "Being the captain of the Nadesico is extremely difficult work, but it is a job that I do well and I am currently having no problems."

Ryoko laughed a bit uneasily. "That's great to hear, I guess.  So what's this top-secret mission that I heard about from Saburouta?" Instantaneously, Izumi and Hikaru noticed the lack of "-san," implying there was more than a polite working relationship between the two, and they pounced on her, poking her viciously with strange looks on their faces.  Ryoko scowled and smacked them on the head before turning back to Ruri.

"The Nadesico along with an escort fleet is to reconnoiter the enemy lines and collect what useful data we can in order to develop a cohesive strategy with which to defeat the enemy," Ruri replied. "But for now, we are to reinforce the defensive fleet at Mars, before continuing our mission."

"That's sort of stupid," Ryoko pointed out. "Why bother fighting them if we don't know how to effectively destroy them?"  
            "I'm certain there are political implications in this decision." Angry silence greeted Ruri's words; the Nadesico in the past had been subjected to the whims of politicians and corporations more than once.  The image of Akatsuki Nagare and Nergal sprang to mind almost immediately.  "In the meantime," Ruri continued, "we will have to do the best we can to survive."

"Surely he knows they're coming. Mars is his home planet…he'd go to defend it at any cost.  He's going to be there," Ryoko mused absent-mindedly.  There was a moment's pause as she glanced at Ruri. "Have you found him yet?" She asked softly.

Ruri slowly shook her head, careful to betray no emotion whatsoever. _I can't let my emotions get in the way of my job. Not now._ "I have found no indication of his presence whatsoever in the known regions of the solar system.  There is the always the change that he might show up to defend Mars, like you said.  That planet is very precious to him," she agreed, with a hint of desperate hope.

Ryoko and Hikaru exchanged sorrowful looks; despite Ruri's best attempts, they could see past her veil and detect the despair, frustration, and sadness that she tried so hard to keep inside.  Even Izumi seemed a little sober.

The silence continued for a little while, until Saburouta clapped hands on Ryoko's and Hikaru's shoulders, earning him a suspicious glance from Ryoko (and a little blush), and a raised eyebrow from Hikaru. "Come on guys," he said boisterously. "You should act a bit more lively! It's been a year since you've seen Ruri, you know," he admonished them. "Besides, there's one more oldie you guys should know…right, Ruri?" he said with a wink. At this, Ruri nodded.

"Hai, he's the captain of one of the escort ships, the _Amaryllis_," she said. "You remember Jun-kun, right?" 

At this, a vid-screen popped up, and the aforementioned male piped up, saying, "Did someone call my name?" Then, seeing Ryoko, Hikaru and Izumi, he smiled broadly and said, "Hey guys! It's been a while, hasn't it?"

The Nadesico erupted again into a series of laughter, talk, and reminisces of the "good old days." Quietly, Ruri snuck out of the conversation and approached Haley.

"Haley-kun, take the conn for a while. There are things I need to finish," she murmured quietly before leaving. 

            "Hai, kanchou," Haley replied. He watched Ruri leave, the door hissing shut behind her, with a look of concern.  She was acting a bit out-of-character, and he made a note to check up on her at the end of his shift.  He turned back to his game of Super Kanji Fighters.  "Just another 2,000 points, and I'll beat the kanchou's high score," he murmured to himself.  "I can do it…it's only 2,000 points.  Just…have  to…concentrate…."

            Half an hour later, he threw the controller across the bridge in frustration. Ryoko was impressed with the strength of his throwing arm.

            Like its predecessor, the Nadesico-C was one of the few military ships gifted with a hot spring and ample water, and the female members of its crew made sure to take full advantage of the battleship's facilities.  Currently, there was only one female in the springs, and as she sat bathing, Hoshino Ruri contemplated the Nadesico's arrival at Mars.

            _We're unprepared,_ she thought with her cold logic. _The Nadesico is the most powerful ship in the fleet, but we know nothing of the enemy.  Nothing about the weapons they use, the ships they pilot, the tactics they utilize.  We don't even know their race…can they be the real Jovian Lizards? _Her cold logic melted away as her thoughts drifted off. _And when we arrive at Mars…will he be there?  Ryoko said he would, and Ryoko knows him better than most people.  What if he is there? What will we do? _She paused. _What will I do?_

            She lowered herself into the water, immersing her head to the point where the water almost reached her nose, hugging her knees to herself.  It was the classic teenage pose, and one that she unconsciously performed.  _It's been so long.  What could he be up to? Where could he be?  _Her thoughts shifted to more disturbing scenarios. _Could he have a connection with the Unknowns? Another experiment? _She shuddered at the thought of another Martian insurrection. _What if the Unknowns found him? Is he okay? Would he make it alive? _She banished these thoughts from her mind, shuddering.  She didn't need that kind of apprehension right now.

            She sighed deeply.  It had been a while since she last indulged her more emotional side.  She might as well do it again while she had the time.  Ironically, she began by logically analyzing her own feelings.  _How do you feel about him? And when did it start?_ Memories started flowing back.

            She had first seen him on the vid-screen when the Nadesico had first been launched, so many years ago.  She noticed that he seemed to be an innocent soul, driven by energy, compassion, and ideals.  She liked that; it was a refreshing difference from herself, and she took interest in him only as someone to be admired.  Granted, she had admitted back then, he was kind of cute, but that was something only a baka would think about.

When he had jumped off the Nadesico in a ground Aestivalis, only to splash into the sea, she had admired his bravery and courage in going to rescue Yurika-san.  She had unconsciously smiled while he jumped off, and was surprised and embarrassed when Megumi-san asked her about it. It was all she could do not to blush.

She had begun wondering about her own feelings when he had helped her pacify Omoikane.  That was when they had finally begun to know each other, and it seemed he had liked her a lot.  After that whole Omoikane ordeal was over, she had taken a brief step off her logical plank and into the emotive waters, telling him how impressed she was with the strength he defended his loved ones. When he had blushed and given her a rather flirtatious glance, she was so surprised…and yet happy at the same time.  She blushed then, as she did now.  After that whole incident, she had grilled herself over what she had just felt.  What was that?

But the real clincher, she conceded, was during that embarrassing Peaceland incident.  After she had met her biological father, the King of Peaceland, both of them had gone to a nearby Italian restaurant, where her truthful remarks about the lack of cooking skill had earned her a near-beating by the cook and his assistants.  But it was him who had protected her from harm, taking the punishment upon himself.  It was a knight's duty, he had explained, but Ruri knew men.  Men protected people they loved.  And he protected his loved ones more ferociously than most.  Perhaps that meant that she…?

Ruri smiled a little as she pondered over that event.  Now that she thought about it, wouldn't the meal at the restaurant and the shopping at the stores, wouldn't that be what people called a date?  That's what her resources told her, she reminded herself.  And men only went on dates with women they…she blushed again.  Her emotions were getting the better of her.  Besides, she hadn't gotten to the good part yet.  Taking another deep breath, she resumed her memory analysis.

After the Peaceland incident, she and Akito had returned to the Nadesico, back to her surrogate family; but before that…Ruri closed her eyes. _Yes, before that.  That's when it happened…_

_            It was a dreary, rainy day when Ruri and her knight had returned to Peaceland from the La Homaro Institute.  Being the King's daughter, it only took Ruri five minutes to gain an audience with the King, whose face fell at the news that she wanted to return to the Nadesico and had no desire to stay here.  Nevertheless, if it was his daughter's wish, the King would let it be so; therefore, Ruri was allowed to go back._

_            It would be another 20 minutes before the Aestivalis' battery packs were recharged for the return trip home.  Ruri sighed, a little bit sad.  Despite not having really known her father and mother, she had felt a little pity after seeing the crestfallen look on the King's face; she wondered, had she been a little too cold in there?  She didn't dare walk back through the streets to the castle again…there was no telling if that accursed cook and his goons would show up and try to attack her again._

_            Deep in her musing, the young girl started slightly at the warm hand that rested on her shoulder for a brief second before patting the hair on her head.  Looking up, she saw him gazing down at her, a warm smile on his face.  She couldn't help but blush slightly.  It wasn't often that he smiled._

_            "So, Ruri-chan, how did your talk with the king go?" he asked cheerfully._

_            "It went well enough," she answered slowly. "Though, I am afraid that perhaps I rejected his offer a bit too coldly."_

_            He nodded sagely. "Yeah, well, you don't know him very well, and the same goes for him.  I don't think he really minds as long as you're happy." Ruri nodded, only half convinced. "He's probably sad because you can't stay, Ruri-chan," her knight continued, turning to gaze off into the distance. "I'm sure anyone would be sad if you had to leave them, since you're such a nice little woman." _

_            Ruri blushed a bit again.  It was amazing how charming he could be without realizing it.  "Perhaps you have a point," she conceded.  There was a moment's silence, and then she suddenly found herself staring into his deep brown eyes as he sat on his haunches, studying her face closely.  She gasped softly in surprise._

_            "Uh…what is it?" she asked._

_            "You look sad, Ruri-chan," he said bluntly, his eyes concerned. "What's wrong?"_

_            Ruri looked away, her eyes half-lidded as she contemplated her inner thoughts. "Well," she began, "I believe I am still traumatized from what happened at the Institute.  All along I thought they were parents.  I thought they were real, and I wanted to see them, find out who they were, and as a result, who I was.  Now that I know that…they're only…" she trailed off; despite her seemingly calm exterior, her heart was too troubled to carry on.  There was a brief moment's silence as her knight contemplated the situation.  After a short pause, he straightened and leaned against the Aestivalis again._

_            "Well, I don't know what to say, Ruri-chan," he said, absent-mindedly rubbing his head. "I'm so sorry that something like this had to happen to you.  If there's anything I can do…" he trailed off, as his eyes lit up with an idea._

_            Ruri didn't notice. "No, it's alright," she murmured softly.  The Aestivalis' power meter beeped once, indicating it was full and it was time to go.  Turning around, Ruri faced the castle of Peaceland and gave the castle one last, final look…_

_And found herself enveloped in a hug from behind._

_Her eyes widened, and she gasped, as she blushed furiously.  What was he doing?_

_As if reading her mind, he said softly, "It's okay, Ruri-chan.  Hugs are meant for important people who are having a rough time.  It cheers them up.  Feel better now, Ruri-chan?" he whispered._

_Her mind was a blur.  Surely he wasn't making romantic advances to her…she was far too young…then what was he doing?  Was this another part of him that she had never seen before? Onboard the Nadesico, he didn't seem the type of guy who'd have the courage to do this sort of thing.  How should she react to this?  Her first thought was to slap him, but she quickly pushed that out of her mind.  That would be absurd.  _

_She blushed furiously.  She knew that he was just trying to be supportive to a girl he probably viewed as a younger sister…but something in her mind refused to accept that logic.  As if to affirm her own mental rebellion,, her hand seemed to move of its own accord, and Ruri watched with a mixture of horrified fascination and confused satisfaction, as her hand slowly moved to rest on his.  With that, as if on cue, her whole body relaxed, and she felt a wonderful feeling of peace fall over her._

_Suddenly, the two separated as they realized just how close they had come together, and they both blushed furiously.  "Um…," he began, "let's get going now, shall we?" Ruri managed to nod, still blushing.  What did I just do? she raged at herself.  I shouldn't let my emotions get the better of me like that! It's not…not what? she asked herself.  Somehow, she couldn't answer that question.  Nevertheless, her logical mind scolded her, don't let it happen again.  What you just did was something a baka would do._

_"Ruri-chan, do you feel better now?" he asked cheerfully, as they walked back to the Aestivalis._

_Ruri glanced up at his face, and smiled a half-smile. "Hai, much better," she said softly as they walked. _

_He laughed. "That's good to hear.  Hugs always work when you're feeling down," he stated confidently._

_She smiled to herself.  Perhaps it is something a baka would do, she told her other self, but I think this feeling is very nice.  Could this be what they call…? _

_"Thank you, Tenkawa-san." She saved that thought for another time._

Ruri woke up with a stifled gasp, in the waters of the hot spring. How long had she been dreaming? She quickly checked the clock on the wall, and breathed a small sigh of relief.  It had only been 10 minutes.  As she sat there, the memory of her dream came rushing back: the castle, the King's face, the Aestivalis…and the hug.  She blushed softly once again, before getting up, wrapping a towel around her petite body, and leaving the springs.  She remembered that incident clearly, she thought to herself as she walked towards her quarters.  That incident was why she had Omoikane compose that song for the idol contest; after all, she had no experience with either love or song-writing, so why not have the computer do it?  She had sung that song for him, and was so happy when he clapped and praised her performance, but part of her was worried too; did he understand the message she was trying to send?  Or was he too much of a baka to understand? Or maybe he was already starting to like Yurika at that point?  At this, she stopped, a queer look on her face.

"I'm starting to think and act like Yurika-san now," she stated in the hallway, before opening the door and entering the captain's quarters.  Unlike her room in the first Nadesico, the captain's quarters was in fact a suite of rooms that included her office, her bedroom, a den, and her own personal bathroom.  By the Nadesico's rather cramped standards, her suite was luxurious.  It was, as usual, sparsely decorated, with a fish mobile hanging over her bed that she had owned since when she was little, and a single picture graced the wall.  It was a photo of the entire crew of the Nadesico, standing in front of the ship, posing, when they had returned to Earth.

Ruri made her way into her bedroom, and pulled out a new captain's uniform.  As she dressed, she assessed her figure absent-mindedly in the mirror.  She had grown a lot since the end of the Great War, she judged for herself.  Just coming off her growth spurt, Ruri was probably just a little shorter than Yurika-san herself.  Her hair, still its hauntingly beautiful metallic silver sheen, spilled in luxurious pools over her back and around her ears.  Her figure, she noticed, had also matured over time, and in every respect, Ruri had transformed from a cute young girl into a stunningly beautiful young lady.  Had she not been in the armed forces, there would've been swarms of desperate young males eager to lay their hands on her; a thought that she found rather disgusting.  Nevertheless, she knew such things were typical in a human's life, and she had gathered…resources together in order to understand the nuances and secrets to the relationship that seemed to govern the very universe of the adolescent teen: dating.  And with a very, very long time to go until the Nadesico-C reached Mars, she'd have a lot of time to research.  She glanced over at her desk, where her resources lay: a single paper-bound book, a spiral notebook, and a mechanical pencil.

She was just about to start reading, when a vid-screen popped up, and Haley appeared.

"Hai, Haley-kun?" Ruri asked.

"Ano…kanchou...is it okay if I come in for a second?" Haley-kun asked.

Ruri nodded once. "Of course, please come in."

The door slid open silently and Haley nervously entered Ruri's quarters.  The last time he had been in Ruri's room on Earth, Saburouta-san had egged him about it for weeks.  He hoped Saburouta wasn't snooping around somewhere, acting sneaky.

"What is it, Haley-kun?" Ruri asked, appearing from her doorway dressed in a freshly pressed captain's uniform.

"Well…I was just wondering…," Haley wringed his hands together nervously, his eyes darting around from one point on the wall to another, "You didn't seem all that well when our new Aestivalis pilots arrived, so I was…worried…"

Ruri nodded once and reclined in one of the easy chairs set in her den, motioning Haley to do likewise.  Immediately, the young boy ambled over to his favorite, a bean bag that was strategically placed in front of a vid-screen that covered an entire wall.  

"It has been a while since I last saw Ryoko-san, Izumi-san, and Hikaru-san," Ruri said quietly. "Perhaps the fact that I've been reunited with so many of old my friends has overwhelmed me."

Haley nodded sagely. "Yes, that makes sense.  It's quite a shock having them onboard again, isn't it?" he asked.  He laughed, a little embarrassed, as he rubbed his head. "I suppose this ship will be getting a lot more interesting on the way to Mars, huh?"

Ruri only nodded, and this time, Haley-kun's face turned serious.  "Ano, kanchou, I have a request," he said, his face full of mock gravity.

"Ah, hai?" she asked, curious.

With a single smooth flick of his finger, Haley-kun activated the vid-screen, and pulled out two controllers, thrusting one out in his captain's direction. "I just spent my entire watch practicing in SKJ. Want to go one on one? I think I've got what it takes to beat you," he grinned wolfishly. "And then we can talk afterwards."

At this, Ruri gave a half-smile, and accepted the controller.

            Fifteen minutes later, Ryoko and Saburouta-san made their way through the very hallway that Ruri's room branched off of.  Both of them sported very nasty-looking bamboo staves in their left hands, and had a bag full of something very bulky slung over their right shoulder.  As they made their way in companionable silence, they heard an agonizing scream of ultimate suffering.  Both stopped in their tracks, and looking at each other with raised eyebrows.

            "What was that?" Ryoko-san asked. "It sounded like it came from Ruri's room." She gestured at the captain's closed door.

            Saburouta-san grinned.  "Haley-kun must be inside with the kanchou," he said, chuckling. "The two of them must be having a fun time," he hinted teasingly.

            At this, Ryoko turned bright red and smacked the poor Jovian across the face with her bamboo stave. "Baka!" she screamed furiously.

            Inside Ruri's room, Haley gave another agonizing scream of despair as his kanji fighter was bashed off the screen by Ruri's nimble fingers.  It was his 23rd loss, of which eleven had been complete KOs.  He banged the controller against the ground and threw his hands up in the air in defeat, as he threw himself back onto the bean bag.

            "I give up!" he declared. "How do you get so good, kanchou?"

            To his complete and utter amazement, the young lady gave a small giggle.

            "Practice," she said. 

Author's Notes: Wow, this was a long chapter! This one took a long time to write, because I agonized over how to portray Ruri's feelings, especially the dream sequence, in this chapter. As you can see, not a whole lot takes place here, but I'm setting down the basis for the romantic part of the story.  Don't worry, we'll be getting to some hard-core space battles soon, don't you worry.  Along with some awesome samurai action (yeah that's right: samurai action).  My main concern with this chapter was that Ruri might've been a bit OOC.  I personally think that she's not emotionless, it's that she keeps her emotions repressed.  Also, because she was raised in a sterile environment, I don't think she knows all that much in terms of love and relationship, so I think for her, that category would hold the most interest for her.  She does, after all, seem curious about dating and stuff in the TV series, around episode 9 or 10, I believe.

            I know that Ruri likes Akito, and that seems especially true in Episodes 12 and 19, so I'm going along with the idea that she likes him a lot, but she keeps it to herself because that is how she was raised.  So, all that emotional drudgery that we'd normally see in the typical hormone-deluged teenager is bottled up inside her, for only her to analyze and fantasize in, because that is just the way she is.  I wonder what'll happen when all that bottled-up feeling comes rushing out? 

            Sorry about that, I'm getting too much into this unconscious analysis stuff. Lately in school we've been learning about Freudian analysis, and I think Ruri serves as a good example of a repression of id by the superego (id being her emotions towards other people, especially Akito, and superego being the cold logical self that we normally see), as well as repression in general.  It serves as a good excuse to explain why Ruri seems a bit OOC during her little conversations with herself.  Also, as I'm sure you've noticed, Ruri has been acting a little odd…putting hands on shoulders, giggling and stuff…don't worry, I'm not trying to make her act un-Ruri like.  You'll just see when the next chapters go up. I am trying to bring out her more emotional side though, as part of the plot.

            I'm not sure when the next chapter is going to come up, but please read and review! I like it when people review, so please do it and do it often!


	5. Chapter Four

As far as recorded history goes, Japan has been a country of warfare.  Its political structure was dominated by the warlords, daimyos, and shoguns of lore for centuries; its revolutions and social disturbances known for their blood-drenched viciousness.  Modern Japan was born in the fires of a civil war that ousted out the Tokugawa shogunate, and the establishment of a modern government also banned the public display and use of the most visible sign of Japan: the katana.

            Of course, just because the katana was banned, that doesn't mean sword-fighting disappeared.  Long before the Meiji revolution, alternatives to deadly steel swords had been developed for use in training; called bokuto, the heavy wooden swords eventually evolved into the shinai.  The shinai is a bamboo foil made of several bamboo staves tied together with leather straps.  Completely harmless, about the most damage it can do is leave a good-sized welt on the hapless victim's skin.

            Nevertheless, no aspiring samurai in Japan would be complete without his armor.  Even with the relatively pacifist shinai, accidents can happen; a jab to the throat or a direct hit on the temple could kill or seriously injure a person.  Therefore, specialized bogu, or armor, was created to protect the individual, and give them both a regal and intimidating look.  The new way of the sword, kendo, is now practiced all over the world.

            Given that, it would be no surprise to find dedicated kendoka (practitioners of kendo) aboard the mobile battleship Nadesico-C; after all, the phrase "yamato nadesico" means "Japanese woman." Currently, the kendo organization aboard the Nadesico had only two members, but two was all you needed to spar, and to any observer watching them exchange blows in the gymnasium, they would seem to be almost superhuman in their prowess.

            Saburouta and Ryoko eyed each other as they circled warily, each looking for an opening with which to make a strike.  Ryoko was poised in the _chudan no kamae_; a position in which she held her shinai straight out pointing towards the opponent's neck; from here, she could easily launch a throat jab or a strike to the head with little warning time. On the other hand, Saburouta was in the _jodan no kamae_ pose, with the shinai held threateningly over his head.  It provided a seemingly easy strike to the chest, or _do_, of his armor, one of the few spots that would provide points if hit in an official match.  On the other hand, his pose protected his head from strikes, and at the same time set him up for an easy counterattack should his opponent make the first move.

            Both kendokas circled around each other once more, before Ryoko made the first move.  Immediately, she used her legs to propel her forward, and brought her shinai in with a sharp jab towards Saburouta's throat.  Immediately, as if anticipating the attack, Saburouta neatly side-stepped the attack, while pouncing forward at the same time, bringing his shinai down to bear on Ryoko's helmet. Lightning-fast reflexes kicked in, and Ryoko managed to turn around and use her shinai to block the attack; both warriors followed through by coming close together and locking gauntlets. This tactic prevented either warrior from using their shinai effectively, and essentially created a stalemate.

            "Not bad, Ryoko, not bad at all," Saburouta hissed through gritted teeth. "You're giving me quite the challenge."

            "Of course, baka," Ryoko shot back. "I'm twice the man you'll ever be!"

            "We'll see about that," the lieutenant grinned as he sprung backward, his shinai raised up over his head, and coming down in an arc aimed straight for Ryoko's chest armor.  Immediately, the pilot inverted her shinai and blocked it; grunting from the stress of impact, she pushed both shinais up and, with her body in the position of _jodan no kamae_, brought her stave down for a crushing blow to the head.

            However, the split second it took for her to prepare for the blow gave Saburouta all the time he needed.  Immediately, with his shinai already lowered, he swung the sword up in a vicious arc, knocking Ryoko's strike off target. She gasped in surprise as her eyes widened in horrified realization, and Saburouta moved in for the kill; a quick strike down and to the side, and his shinai slapped cleanly against her right side; had this been a real duel, Ryoko would've been cleaved in two.

            Point to Saburouta: score, 2 to 3, Saburouta.  Matches were up to five.

            Haley-kun's kanji fighter raced across the screen, and as Haley's fingers danced across the controller, performed its ultimate attack.  However, Ruri had anticipated this, and jumped her kanji fighter off-screen, evading damage, and pulled off her own special move.  On the vid-screen, the ground erupted into fire, engulfing Haley's kanji and reducing it to nothing but ash.  Lights flashed and the word "KO" graced the screen for the fifty-seventh time.

            "Argh, kanchou, you need to stop that," Haley growled aggressively before flopping into his beanbag.  He tossed the controller nonchalantly unto the floor. "Well, I think I'm done for the day.  No point in embarrassing myself anymore, ne, kanchou?"

            Ruri merely shrugged and turned the vid-screen off. "Haley-kun," she said. "Was there something you wished to talk about, besides playing video games?"

            Haley nodded as he snuggled down into the beanbag. "Yeah," he replied "You were acting kind of funny when our new Aestivalis pilots came onboard. I would've thought you'd be kind of happy to see them, but you barely even talked to them before you left.  I know how much you treasure memories and past experience," he said seriously, "so I thought it was kind of odd that you'd just leave them like that."

            Ruri nodded once, as she contemplated Haley's words.

            Ryoko's shinai came crashing down at near sub-sonic speed, smashing into Saburouta's helmet and wringing a loud grunt from him. Ryoko gave a feral grin before stepping back.  Score was now 3-3, tied.  With luck, Ryoko could pull this off and beat the Jovian to the ground.

            "You want some more?" she taunted as she circled him once again.

            Saburouta got up slowly and approached her calmly, shinai held out in _chudan no kamae_.  Strangely enough, he did not reply to her taunt, using body language to indicate that he was ready.

            Ryoko immediately jumped at him, shinai raised overhead, to strike him again on the helmet. _His weak point seems to be reaction time; his reflexes aren't as honed as mine_, she thought confidently. _If I can catch him by surprise, then he should be mine_. Even as she thought this though, Saburouta's shinai came down, pushing Ryoko's shinai out of the way.  Ryoko hurriedly took a step back, and Saburouta followed with a feint to the head, with his shinai actually aimed at her left wrist.  Ryoko managed to barely avoid the strike, and took several steps back to regain her composure.

            Again, Saburouta advanced slowly and threateningly, his shinai held in _jodan no kamae_.  As the distance between them closed, Sabrouta launched himself forward, aiming at the head; this strike was easily blocked by Ryoko's own shinai, and she rushed forward, locking gauntlets with the Jovian once more.

            "You're a lot better than I thought," Ryoko hissed at the lieutenant.

            "Not too shabby yourself, pretty lady," Saburouta shot back. At that, the two jumped apart and crashed together again, the collision echoing across the walls of the gymnasium.

            "Kanchou?" Haley asked nervously. "You still there, kanchou?"

            "Hai, Haley-kun," Ruri said quietly. "I was just…thinking."  She looked at the young boy. "How long will it be until we reach Mars?"

            "Well, this ship is pretty fast for our size," Haley mused. "I'd say another four weeks before we reach Mars."

            "I see.  Haley-kun, you know who Tenkawa-san is, right?"

            At this, the young lieutenant scratched his head. "I think so.  He's a former Nadesico crewmember right? Aestivalis pilot?"  
            "Cook," Ruri corrected with a small smile.

            "Yeah, cook," Haley muttered with a distracted look. Suddenly, his eyes lit up with recognition. "Oh!" he exclaimed, "is he the guy you were so fond of back then? Minato-san told me that you had a little crush on him…" he trailed off upon seeing the odd look on her face. "Did I say something wrong, kanchou?" he asked timidly.

            "Minato-san told you this?" Ruri asked. The boy nodded. "Perhaps she exaggerates a little," she reluctantly embellished, "but Tenkawa-san was indeed a nice man.  It would be good to see him on Mars."

            "What makes you think he'd be on Mars?"

            "He was born there.  He loves his planet, and if it were to be threatened, I'm sure he'd come from wherever he is right now to defend it to the death," Ruri stated confidently.  "He protects the things he loves with great energy."

            "Sounds like a nice guy," Haley offered.

            "Yes," Ruri said with a touch of sadness. "He was."

Ryoko lunged at the throat, desperate for a scoring strike.  The score was now 4-3, and she was losing.  One more point, and she would lose the match. The Jovian batted the stroke away easily, and Ryoko cursed in her mind.  Her shinai lifted up again and she brought it crashing down on Saburouta's head, only to hit air as he lithely stepped out of the way.  The young woman continued with her stroke, gliding through the strike before swiftly turning around to face the rapidly approaching lieutenant.

Saburouta bored down on the pilot in _jodan no kamae_, and swung diagonally and down to her left side of the head.  A quick flick of the wrist sent Saburouta's shinai off course, while Ryoko followed up with her own strike to the head.  Saburouta managed to duck under the shinai, which struck his shoulder; despite the hit, it wasn't in an official spot, and so would not count in a match. _Which is stupid, _she thought bitterly. _If this was real, he'd be missing an arm and a bit more._

Following through with the strike, she flew past him before twirling around, assuming _jodan no kamae_ herself.  Saburouta countered with a _chudan no kamae_ stance, and stood, waiting for her to make the first move.  Ryoko inched closer slowly, watching for any sudden attacks from the Jovian.  About six feet away, Ryoko suddenly sprang forward, her shinai seeking his throat guard.  Almost catching Saburouta by surprise, the man barely managed to swat the attack away, and was forced to retreat under a hail of head strikes from Ryoko as she desperately seeked an opening.

Regaining his composure and the initiative, Saburouta blocked the last head strike, and shifting his shinai, used his body strength to force it down and to the side.  The fight raged onward as each kendoka sought to exploit the chinks in the defensive strategy of the other.

"So, what was special about Tenkawa-san, kanchou?" Haley asked inquisitively.

Ruri thought for a second. "He was a very passionate man, very much different from who I was.  It was…refreshing to be around him, and he became an important person for a while," she admitted.  "Seeing Ryoko-san, Izumi-san, and Hikaru-san reminded me of him and my memories of the Nadesico."

Haley nodded in agreement. "So that's what made you sad?"

Ruri looked up. "Sad?" she echoed.

The young teenager nodded emphatically. "Yup, you looked kinda sad when you left.  I was wondering what that was all about," he said. "What were you sad about?"

Ruri looked away for a second. "Haley-kun, you are being unusually forward today."

At this, the lieutenant blushed slightly. "Oh, I'm sorry."

Ruri shook her head. "No, it's okay. It is better for you if you are more forward, Haley-kun.  I do not mind it."

Haley blinked once or twice in surprise. "Okay," he said slowly. "So…um…about Tenkawa-san…?"

"He disappeared one day, and when we had found him, he left again," she said simply. "I'm worried about what he may have gotten himself into this time. He has a disturbing knack for getting into trouble."

Haley-kun laughed a little. "Sounds a bit like me," he said.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah," he replied, rubbing the back of his head. "Saburouta is always teasing me for the things that I do, especially when it comes to you," he said, blushing a little again. "For some reason, he thinks we're a couple." He laughed uneasily. "Yeah, right! I wonder where he got that crazy idea from, right?"

Ruri arched an eyebrow at him. "Yes, one must wonder." As she watched him fidget in his seat, his hair un-gelled and spiky, she noticed that he strongly resembled Tenkawa-san. "Haley-kun," she said softly.

"Hai?"

"You should keep your hair the way it is right now," she suggested softly.  "Don't put gel in it anymore."

"Er, why not, kanchou?"

"It looks better that way," Ruri said simply, standing up.

Haley-kun shrugged, giving her a strange look. "If you say so," he said, oblivious.

The final strike came from Saburouta. Locking gauntlets once more, he had pushed off with enough force to slightly destabilize Ryoko for a moment, and with that split-second, had made his strike.  The distracted Ryoko had no time to block the strike to the head, and the shinai connected cleanly, hitting the helm with a healthy "thwock."

The winner: Saburouta-san. Score: 5-3.

            With barely constrained anger, Ryoko turned and faced Saburouta and both closed within the regulation distance.  Both crouched, assuming a position called _sankyo_, clapped the shinai to their left side as if sheathing the sword, and took five steps back before bowing in respect to each other.  Then, the defeated and disgraced Aestivalis pilot threw her shinai to the ground in disgust and stamped on it.  Saburouta, on the other hand, was rolling around the gymnasium floor laughing uncontrollably.

            "So, who won that one, Ryoko?" he teased, still holding his sides from laughing so hard. "Guess I'm still number one, as I rightfully should be!" he boastfully declared while lying on the floor.  Unfortunately for him, he did not notice Ryoko turn red with anger, and thus, was unprepared when she drop-kicked him across the gymnasium floor.

            "Just you wait until next time, Saburouta-san!" she screamed. "I'll beat you for sure, if it's the last thing I do!"

            Saburouta painfully got up, holding a sore side, and a few broken ribs, he reckoned. "Okay, okay, whatever you say," he mumbled painfully. "I love you, too."

            "Nani?!" Ryoko gasped, her face turning red not from anger but from embarrassment. Immediately, the romantically naïve pilot struck out with her fist, connecting with Saburouta's cheek, and sending him flying again.

            Once more, Saburouta picked himself up again. "Geez, Ryoko," he panted. "You could be a bit nicer, you know." At this, Ryoko rubbed the back of her head and grinned.  With the comradely atmosphere restored once more, the two packed up and headed back to their stations; their shift was close to beginning. 

The gymnasium connects directly to the bridge through a central hallway that leads past the hot spring and, coincidentally, the Captain's room.  As Saburouta and Ryoko ambled down the metal corridors, both Haley-kun and Ruri stepped out of her quarters, the former with a video controller dangling from his hand, and the latter with a small paperback book, notebook, and pencil clutched to her chest.

"Yo!" Saburouta called at the two, waving his hand. "Shift's about to begin, Haley.  Did you two have fun in the kanchou's room?"

"Saburouta-san is such a pervert," Haley-kun muttered under his breath, before he replied, "Hai! We were playing video games, for your information, Lieutenant!"

"Oh? What game?" Ryoko asked.

"It is Haley-kun's favorite," Ruri said. "It's a fighting game called Super Kanji Fighters."

"A fighting game, eh?" Ryoko said, her curiosity piqued. "I like those kinds of games; Haley, why don't we go for a few rounds during our shift? Not like anything's going to happen enroute to Mars, the only thing we have to worry about until we reach the Unknowns is just stray space debris."

Haley-kun debated this for a moment as he mentally judged whether he was capable of defeating an Aestivalis pilot at this kind of game. "Sure, why not," he said confidently. After all, he had already lost to Ruri; what difference would it make on his bruised pride if he lost to a hard-core pilot like Ryoko?

As Haley-kun and Ryoko walked down the corridor together, talking animatedly about their favorite different fighting video games, Saburouta quietly joined Ruri.

"Any reports of unidentified individuals on Mars?" he asked Ruri in a whisper. The young captain only shook her head, and the Lieutenant nodded, with one of his rare serious expressions on his face.

"I spoke with Admiral Akiyama right after you left," he said in a low voice. At this, Ruri's head came up, her eyes curious. "He said that a Jovian ship had salvaged an Aestivalis that was painted a shade of pink, between Jupiter and Mars.  We have yet to receive a transmission on whether or not there was a pilot in there, but…the Admiral fought him before, during the Great War.  If he's confidant that it's his Aesti, then it probably is him," he concluded. "There's a strong chance that he's either with the Jovian fleet as they retreat back to UEC lines, or that he's already on Mars and awaiting our arrival." With this, he clapped Ruri on the shoulder and rejoined Haley and Ryoko in their discussion about which kanji was the best at fighting.

The young girl pressed her books closer to herself, as she thought about the possibility of Tenkawa-san being on Mars.  _The first thing I will do_, she decided with a half-smile, _is return his ramen recipe to him._

Command and Control Center, UEC 3rd Space Fleet, orbiting Mars

The UEC 3rd Space Fleet comprised one of the most powerful battle formations known to mankind.  A mind-boggling 800-ship strong force, more than forty percent of its warships were of the battle-ship class, and the flagship was the ND-002, the _Cosmos_, from the glory days of the Great War.  While an old ship, the _Cosmos_ had undergone enough renovations and upgrades that its distortion field and multi-barreled gravity blast cannon were still one of the strongest weapons around, matched only by the _Nadesico-C_ herself.

The commanding officer was a tough Admiral by the name of Harada Ken'ichi, who was currently planning battle strategy with the other commanding Admirals of the lesser UEC space fleets, and also a representative from the remnants of the Jovian forces, who numbered only a pathetic forty-five as they drew closer to UEC lines.  With Admiral Harada were the commanding officers of the UEC 1st, 5th, 7th, and 21st Fleets, and the combined UEC presence over Mars was equivalent to about 3,000 battle-worthy warships.  It was quite possibly the largest collection of destruction known to man, Harada thought arrogantly.

Besides the massive space fleet orbiting above Mars, Mars itself was now protected by a ring of orbital space platforms that were armed with heavy laser batteries, and a handful were even armed with gravity blast cannons. The red planet had, over the years, flourished once more as colonists returned in droves after the Great War to reap large profits mining for invaluable CC crystals, and the UEC were determined to protect this strategic resource at any cost.

At the 3rd Space Fleet's command center, the Admiral and his associates were also positioned around a circular table with a holographic projector implanted at the center.  A massive display that showed Mars, its defensive platforms and fleet, and the retreating Jovian ships arced above their heads, as they planned their strategy.

"Representative Harujyon, your forces will filter through our lines at sector 45-C, where they will restock, refit, and rearm themselves as need be.  We also have repair facilities aboard the _Cosmos_ and the orbital platforms should your forces need them," Admiral Harada explained.  The stiff-backed Jovian representative nodded in consent.

"Admiral Hong, your 21st Fleet will be the spearhead of the counter-attack assault, if everything goes to plan.  I want you to dispatch your research squadrons to sectors 72-A and –D, and also to sector 13-F; these are the likely approaches to enemy attack, and we need to gather as much analytical data we can to beat these bastards." The Korean admiral saluted smartly upon receiving his orders.

Harada leaned forward in his chair and glanced at each one of the officers around the table. "Men, this battle decides the future of the UEC and mankind.  If we lose, we lose not only the strongest space armada known to man, but we lose a valuable strategic resource, valuable territory, and most important of all, valuable time.  Earth is rearming and mobilizing her forces as we speak, but she needs time.  We're here to buy it.  Follow the battle plan; it is based on what we know of the Unknowns, and so far we have found them to be predictable juggernauts.  Given the right tactics, we can defeat them. That is all. Dismissed."

All across Mars, silence reigned as soldiers checked their weapons, reloaded ammo, adjusted power gauges, and prepared for a day full of desperate fighting, furious defense, and equally furious counterattack.

            "Captain!" communications officer Akira yelled a little too loudly, as he tore his headset off.

            "Hai?" Captain Hoshino Ruri replied.

            "We gots ourselves a transmission from the good 'ole Admiral Misumaru, ma'am," he reported. "He's on a damn fine video feed on line four.  Wanna hook him up to the bridge or should we put the slammer in his face?"

            "I'd prefer if you did the former."

            "But of course, ma'am," Akira said with a small flourish and bow as he queued up a vid-screen.  Admiral Misumaru Kouichiro flashed aboard the bridge as he stroked one of his mustaches absent-mindedly.

            "Ah, Ruri-kun, are you there?" he said.

            "Yes, what is it, Admiral?" she asked, wary for another sly glance.

            "UE Spacey Command and Control just received a FLASH priority dispatch from Mars," the Admiral replied. "How far are you from Mars now?"

            Ruri checked the calendar displayed on Omoikane's screen.  It had been a couple of weeks since she last beat Haley at Super Kanji Fighters…. "Approximately six hours, sir.  The planet should be registering on our scanners within the next forty-five minutes.  May I ask why that information is relevant?"

            The Admiral pulled a sheet of paper in front of him and donned oddly thick reading spectacles. He coughed once to clear his throat as he scanned the page. "According to the dispatch," he said, "The Jovian remnants have filtered through UEC lines. Hmm…the commanding officer of the 3rd Fleet is Harada Ken'ichi.  That's good," he added, "he's a wonderful tactician."

            "Perhaps his skills are adequate enough that they do not require the _Nadesico's_ assistance?" Ruri asked hopefully.  She would much rather reconnoiter than risk her ship's destruction in an unprepared fight against an unknown enemy.

            "I'm sorry Ruri-kun," Admiral Misumaru replied, "but you and I both know that orders are orders, and these came from the UEC council.  The Mars defensive formation will need your assistance soon, I'm sure of it.  Try to get there as fast as you can." With that, his vid-screen disappeared.

            "Kanchou, this is really bad," Haley-kun observed.

            "Damn, he's got a mighty fine mustache, the admiral," Akira thought aloud. "What are those stupid politicians thinking back on Earth?" he asked, on a totally unrelated subject now. "Fighting an unknown enemy is like tipping over an outhouse bolted to the ground. You ain't gonna win, sucker."

            "What the hell are you talking about?" Saburouta demanded.

            _Waiting is the toughest apart about war_, Admiral Harada decided after a few minutes reflection. _You never know when the enemy's going to come. So you wait, always on guard.  The tensest, most nerve-racking part of the whole equation: when will those bastards come?_ On reflex, he glanced at the vid-screen hovering next to him, which displayed the battle plan he had spent days preparing.  _Everything is in place.  No applicable weaknesses anywhere down the line, except where we want them to be.  Every bit of data we have on them has been analyzed and taken into account.  This force is as prepared as it'll ever be._

            Harada swiveled his chair so he faced outward, where he could gaze through his observation deck into the vastness of space.  Formation after formation of warships floated lazily past him, each one at maximum alert and waiting for the imminent enemy attack.  His sharp eyes picked out the insignia on one of the ships: _Stardust_, a battleship commissioned in the UEC 3rd Space Fleet.  His fleet.  The battleship bristled with row after row of high-energy laser cannons, with a single gravity blast barrel jutting out of its prow.  There were at least 600 more ships just like it, and with a force that powerful, how could they lose?

            Harada found little comfort in that thought.  His ebony black eyes hardened as he glared out into the stars. _Everything is perfect, down to how much cherry pie each ensign gets. So why the hell am I so worried?_

            Of course, he knew the answer to that question himself.

            "Oi, kanchou, what's that book you've got there?" Saburouta asked. "You've been reading that for a while…it must be a pretty darn interesting computer manual or something."

            Ruri merely nodded absent-mindedly as she read, turning page after page in rapid succession, her pale fingers gripping a pencil that made the occasional note every few pages.

            Saburouta tip-toed quietly to Haley. "Haley, what do you think the kanchou is reading?" he whispered. "Some kind of romance novel, maybe?"

            "Nah," the young lieutenant whispered back. "She's not the romantic type.  I'm thinking it's a science fiction novel.  I bet she likes those a lot."  
            "Are you kidding?" the Jovian snorted back. "She's not a dork like you, Haley.  Only dorks read science fiction novels."

            "Well, if it isn't a science fiction novel, what is it then?" Haley countered heatedly. "We both know it isn't a romance novel!"

            "How about shoujo manga?" a female voice piped up between them.  Haley and Saburouta looked down, and to their immense surprise, saw Kotone sitting cross-legged between them, looking at each with wide excited eyes. "I love shoujo manga!" she squealed with delight.  Both men jumped backwards in surprise, before Saburouta regained his composure.

            "Um…Kotone-san, shouldn't you be at your post? You're the helmswoman," he said slowly.

            "I know, but the Nadesico's been on autopilot since we left. I have nothing to do, and I'm so bored," she complained bitterly. "But," she whispered in a conspiratorial voice, leaning closer to the two men, "I think the kanchou there is reading some shoujo manga! She's at the right age, don't you think?"

            Haley and Saburouta glanced over at Ruri doubtfully. "Right age perhaps, but is she the right type?" they both asked skeptically.

            "Oh, of course!" Kotone replied, waving her hand as if to ward off their doubts. "She's the classic shoujo manga reader!"

            "Really?" Haley asked, wonder in his voice.

            "Well, if you're not sure, why don't you just ask? Let's just go see what she's reading right now!" Kotone said cheerfully, dragging the two rather unwilling males towards the captain's chair.

            Estimated time of contact: 20 minutes.  Admiral Harada exhaled slowly, somewhat nervous.  Despite his constant reassurances that his battle plan was as good as it'll ever get, one thing still nagged at him in the corner of his mind.

            Frankly, the UEC didn't have a goddamned clue what the Unknowns were, what their tactics were, what their weapons were.  Sure, they had a little information, but nowhere near the amount necessary for Harada to make even educated guesses for his battle plan. _I'm making this whole damn circus up just because we have crap intelligence! _He raged at himself. _If the enemy has a different strategy than what the wizards back on Earth had predicted…_he glanced once more at the vid-screen. _Then Mars is toast._

            Perhaps he should change the strategy…? Yes, the Admiral decided, it would probably be better if he tweaked it a little just so it'd be more flexible. That way, in case the intelligence pukes on Earth did mess up, he'd have a backup plan to drag his fleet out of whatever mess Intel got them stuck in.  He reached for a pen on his desk.

            Ruri's mind had subconsciously registered about five minutes of silence since she had noticed Saburouta, Haley, and Kotone suspiciously gathered in a small group barely within her field of vision.  Small giggling noises could be heard, and she turned her head slightly to see what was going on.

            The three mischievous crewmembers were behind Ruri's captain's chair, reading her book over her shoulder.  As soon as she turned around, all three grinned widely, with mirth in their eyes.  Ruri's eyes widened in surprise before she regained her composure.

            "What is it?" she asked innocently.

            "Kanchou, what was that book you were reading?" Saburouta asked, sniggering. This time, Ruri turned a little red, and the three fell on the floor, laughing hysterically.

            "I can't believe it, Kotone-san!" Haley-kun managed to wheeze out between gales of laughter. "You were actually right!"

            "What'd I tell you, Haley-kun?" she shrieked delightfully.

            "Kanchou, what are you doing reading shoujo manga?" Saburouta questioned, holding his sides.

            Ruri just blushed even more and pressed the small manga volume against her chest.

            "Kanchou, you haven't answered my—" Suddenly, a large "thwock" interrupted the still-chuckling Saburouta's sentence, and the Jovian fell to the floor, eyes spinning, after being hit across the head by Ryoko's angry shinai.

            "The hell do you think you're doing, Saburouta!" she hissed at him. "Ruri's a young woman you know, and she has feelings! Try to be a little more sensitive!" She whacked him another time with the shinai to make sure the message came through.

            "Hai, hai, whatever you say," the Jovian managed to wheeze out painfully.

            "Just ignore these creeps, Ruri," the gruff pilot said to her captain.

            "It's quite alright, Ryoko-san," Ruri replied. "I can handle their antics. Anyway, Saburouta-san," she spoke to the injured Jovian, who was painfully picking himself up to sit cross-legged next to her, "the reason why I'm reading shoujo manga is because it contains situations in it which I have little practical knowledge about.  So, I am studying these volumes to understand how to act under certain conditions."

            Saburouta took the pro-offered manga volume, and studied it for a few seconds. "Ruri, you're studying shoujo manga in order to learn how to date?" he asked, puzzled.

            The young lady blushed again. "Not just that, Saburouta-san," she qualified, "it contains advice on how to act with many emotions.  I was raised in an emotionless environment, and never learned how to express my feelings," she continued with a touch of sadness. "These volumes help me understand how to express what I feel in ways that would be considered normal for a girl my age."

            "Makes sense to me," Haley-kun said approvingly. "So, Saburouta-san, what's the manga called?"

            The Jovian flipped to the cover. "Hmm, it's called Ururun."

            "Ururun?"

            Harada was almost done with his slight changes to the battle plan when the alarm klaxons went off.  Surprised by the sudden noise, the Admiral fumbled with his pen as a vid-screen popped up, revealing a rather frightened-looking communications ensign.

            "Sir, we've detected massive movement on Admiral Jay's part of the defensive line! Visual confirmation has been received, it's the Unknowns!" he stammered quickly. "Please report to the bridge at once, Admiral!"

            Harada gave a violent curse as he sprang from his desk and sprinted down the hall toward the elevator shafts. _Shit, _he thought, _now the carnage begins._

            "Ururun?" Kotone thought out loud. "Where have I heard that before?"

            Ruri merely shrugged. "I wouldn't know, but it is a popular manga.  Many other girls my age read it."

            "So, Haley, what do you think she'll do next?" Saburouta asked quietly.

            "I don't now, Saburouta-san.  He was pretty harsh to her…I'm hoping she'll break up with him, don't you agree?"

            "Yeah, you're absolutely right.  Tori-san here has been a pretty big loser…"

            Ruri and Kotone turned around to see what they were talking about.

            Both Saburouta and Haley were sitting on the floor next to the captain's chair, Saburouta reclining cross-legged while Haley looked over his shoulder.  Both were completely engrossed with Ruri's copy of "Ururun" and were flipping through its pages.

            "Oh, I didn't think she would do that!" Haley exclaimed, whistling between his teeth.

            "Geez, woman, what were you thinking? Tori-san isn't worth your career!" Saburouta complained bitterly.  "If only women considered me that important…"

            "Whoa!" Haley shouted, pointing at a particular spot on the page. "Saburouta-san, look at that!"  
            Saburouta-san stared at the page, awestruck. "Geez! Since when did Tori-san have a magical boy transformation?"

            "There's so many twists to this story," Haley murmured with appreciation as his eyes scanned the pages.

            "Yeah, this is by far better than any other manga I've read," the Jovian agreed.

            "Saburouta-san, Haley-kun, what are you doing?" Ruri asked.  Immediately, the two jumped in surprise and sprang to their feet, trying mightily to hide something behind their backs as they uneasily smiled.

            "Uh…hai, kanchou?" they both said.

            "I didn't know boys read shoujo manga too," Ruri observed quietly. The two men looked at each other for a second before dropping their heads and sighing in shame.

            "Ano…kanchou?" Haley-kun asked timidly.

            "Hai, Haley-kun?"

            "Is…it okay if…Saburouta and I…borrow your book…when…you're done…with it?" he said in a tinny voice.  Saburouta nodded vigorously, somewhat ashamed.

            Ruri sighed. "Yes, Haley-kun, you may."

            Admiral Harada reached the bridge right when the battle started.  The Unknown fleet had boson jumped within firing range of Admiral Jay's UEC 1st Fleet, and space was torn apart as the battleships under his command unleashed an alpha strike of laser blasts, firing off every single one of their weapons at once.  A massive amount of ordinance was brought to bear upon the Unknowns, and space lit up as bright as the stars as metal and flesh were burned and vaporized.

            "UEC 1st Fleet reports contact with the enemy. Sir, they are engaging," the communications officer reported, much calmer now that his superior was monitoring the fight.

            "Good, have them keep up the pressure.  Don't give a single inch to these monsters," Harada replied. "Give me a situational report."

            "Yes sir." A screen blinked on in front of the admiral, displaying the current positions of the Unknowns and his own UEC forces. "The enemy boson jumped within 120 kilometers of the defensive lines, and well within firing range of the 1st Fleet.  The fleet is approximately the same size as ours, and we estimate about 3,000 to 4,000 ships in their entire armada.  Currently, they are concentrating solely on defensive maneuvers against the 1st Fleet, but they are rapidly advancing upon the 3rd Fleet's position."

            "Good," Harada murmured, as a shark-like grin spread across his face. So far, everything was going to plan.

            While reviewing the data in preparation for his battle strategy, Harada had noticed one defining thing about the Unknowns beside their well-coordinated movements; they always went after the command ship or command center of their enemy.  This usually involved the largest ship or the vessel that emanated the largest amount of electromagnetic radiation. The ND-002 _Cosmos_ was both of these.

            Nestled well behind the front line, the enemy would have to cut through a bristling wall of lasers and gravity blasts to bring their firepower to bear on the UEC flagship. Harada hoped to capitalize on that, and bring punishing firepower on them as they struggled to break through the defensive barrier.

            "Multiple boson reactions across the board! Half the Unknown fleet has disappeared!" The communications officer's panicked shout jolted the Admiral out of his reverie. _Shit, I forgot about the boson jumping capabilities they had!_

            "Full power to the distortion fields! Unmask and activate the gravity blast cannon, wide-spread!" Harada shouted. "Engines to maximum speed, raise the escort ships on the communications net!"

            The _Cosmos _sprang to life at the same moment when over 1,000 Unknown vessels materialized within a few kilometers of it.  Immediately, swarms of mecha began pouring out of the organic ships' hulls, and bright plasma blasts began spewing out of their flower-like cannons. Explosions rocked the _Cosmos_ as it desperately tried to bring its multi-barreled gravity blast cannon to bear.  Around the endangered ship, scores of escort craft swarmed to protect their commander, armed with anti-mech weaponry as well as heavy lasers and gravity blast cannons.

            "Admiral Jay reports that the Unknowns have broken through his lines! He's been forced to fall back to defense line Andora!" Harada cursed; how had the enemy broken through his primary defensive formation so soon?  The whole plan was falling apart before his eyes.

            "Get the 7th Fleet to reinforce! Is the gravity blast cannon charged?"

            "Hai!"

            "Wide-spread configuration, I want to take down as many of the capital ships as I can! Gravity blast cannon, hasha!" Several powerful beams of pure energy lanced out from the venerable ship and engulfed a large portion of the fleet in searing heat and a blinding explosion.  As soon as the sensors stabilized, Harada saw that he had destroyed about 10% of the enemy force.  100 ships wasn't that bad, and already UEC ships were reinforcing the rear guard. Harada allowed himself a small smile of relief; things were salvageable.

            "Multiple explosions to the left and right! We've lost the _Knight_, _Avenger, Nautilus, _and _Jubilate_!"

            Harada spun around in surprise. "What? Those are all heavy battleships, how can they just explode like that?"  
            "I'm registering strange readings on the electromagnetic scanners, sir," the communications officer replied. "But they're emanating from the Unknown ships."

            "What the hell…," the Admiral murmured. What new weapon was this?

            "Helmsman, set a course on bearing 275, all head full! Charge the gravity blast cannon again!" he ordered.

            "Hai!" The _Cosmos _shuddered as it slowly changed course.  All around it, several anti-mech UEC frigates spewed storm after storm of pale-blue bolts, rending through the silver mecha, desperately trying to stave off their devastating missile barrages, while the Unknown capital ships continued to give chase, spewing out bolts of plasma.  Several frigates exploded as plasma bolts chewed through their distortion fields and armor, igniting the air and ammunition stored within.

            "Give me an update on the primary defense line," Harada commanded.  Another vid-screen popped open, and from it the Admiral could see that the enemy had indeed completely sundered the 1st Fleet's defensive formations; the fleet had been driven back over 200 kilometers to defensive line Andora; the second of three defensive lines that he had.  The other defensive lines were barely holding up against the Unknowns, but the 1st Fleet protected the most direct route to the vulnerable command and control orbital stations around Mars.  Harada had underestimated the Unknowns, and worst of all, his ruse had failed.

            Luckily, Admiral Hong's 21st Fleet was being held in reserve, and it being an immensely powerful force, should be enough to check the enemy's assault.  Harada motioned at the communications officer.

            "Get me Admiral Hong, and queue up a data list of the Unknown ship sizes!"

            "Hai!" A vid-screen of the commanding officer of UEC 21st Fleet immediately sprang up.

            "Yes, Admiral?" Hong asked.

            "I need you to plug up the hole the Unknowns have ripped up in 1st Fleet's defensive formation.  I want you to try to destroy this ship particularly, at all costs." He pointed his finger at the largest ship in the enemy formation.

            "I understand sir, but why that particular ship?"

            Harada smiled. "Haven't you read old sci-fi novels or seen crappy science fiction movies before?  The largest ship is always the mother ship.  And the mother ship is the one that controls the aliens. Destroy the mother ship, and all you've got left is a disorganized mob.  Besides, this ship is emitting huge quantities of boson particles. That's got to mean something." A flick of his hand, and the vid-screen shifted into electromagnetic spectrum mode, with the "mother ship" glowing a searing-hot white.

            "Hai," Admiral Hong nodded, and his vid-screen vanished.  Both men left unsaid the fact that a disorganized mob might be just as dangerous as a trained army.

            Harada turned and looked out the observation deck.  Running away gave the _Cosmos_ time to radio and rally other ships for her defense, but the 1,000 ship Unknown fleet was still pursuing and gaining on them.  It was time to make a stand.

            "Turn the ship around, I want us facing the enemy. Organize the battleships around us, I want an alpha strike with everything we've got once they're in range!" He addressed his vid-screen again. "I want to pour everything we've got onto this single ship right here.  Erase it from space!"

            Several hundred kilometers away, the battleships of Admiral Hong's 21st Fleet roared to life.  A gigantic armored fist, the leading phalanx drove straight into the heart of the Unknown formation, splintering the fleet in an enormous flanking attack.  A hail of gravity blasts from the heavy battleships incinerated the first layer of Unknowns, and as the 21st drove deeper into the enemy formation, squadrons peeled off to keep the gap open and to apply constant pressure to the confused enemy.

            "Full speed to that ship! I want an alpha strike the second we're in range!" Admiral Hong commanded.  The distance between his command ship, the _Orchid_, and the designated "mother ship" dissipated quickly, and the 21st's surprise assault brought it into range in a matter of minutes.

            "Gravity blast cannon, ready to fire! All battleships are systems green, awaiting alpha strike now!"

            "Hasha!" A veritable wall of energy arced through space, obliterating the Unknown fleet and engulfing the "mother ship" in a raging firestorm of debris and explosive energy.

            Admiral Hong smiled grimly as he watched the destruction unfold. 

"Sensors indicate 60% of the enemy force has been vaporized."

"Good," he replied, "send the squadrons out for search-and-destroy, mop up the leftovers." Suddenly, alarm klaxons rang as the distortion field shuddered, and heavy battleships began exploding all around the Admiral.

"What the hell is going on?" he shouted.

"I'm registering massive energy fluctuations from the center of the enemy fleet!" the sensors officer reported. "It appears to be coming…from our kill target!"  
            "What? You mean it's still there?!"

"Not only that sir, but its distortion fields are stronger than ever!  I'm reading huge boson readings from it; it's like its using boson particles to destroy ships!"

"Launch the Aestivalis squadron, I want them to pump as many missiles into that thing as we can!" Admiral Hong ordered. _Boson particles to destroy ships…? But that's impossible!_

As Admiral Hong and Harada struggled to survive above the skies of Mars, the elite Panthers Aestivalis unit stationed aboard the 21st Fleet rocketed off towards the "mother ship."  Assembled in alpha formation, the squadron was grouped into sections that flew in a "v" formation.  To a casual observer, the Panthers unit would resemble a flock of heavily armed and very deadly geese.

The captain of the Panthers unit was a former Anglo-Saxon fighter jock named Lee Gardner. Strapped into his zero-g, late-production model Aestivalis, the young man had at his disposal thirty-six missiles packed with high explosives, an assault rifle with a 2,000 shot magazine, a single retractable knife for melee engagements, and 23 highly skilled pilots, some of whom were armed with portable heavy lasers and other artillery weaponry with which to break fortresses and sunder capital ships.

As the Panthers unit streaked towards the "mother ship," a cloud of silver mecha spewed out from the Unknowns' organic hangar bays, and sections of the Panthers peeled off to engage.  Small explosions blossomed over the canvas of space as the ace pilots shot down silver mech after silver mech.  However, the Unknowns had the advantage in numbers, and two Aestivalis pilots were overwhelmed by the massive number of missile salvoes; two larger explosions denoted their deaths.

By that time, however, the majority of the Panthers had reached firing range, and the pilots split off to perform their respected roles.

Artillery fire poured into the side of the ship, tearing chunks of silvery metal off the hull as 36-missile salvoes slammed into the "mother ship," easily bypassing the distortion field. Other Aestivalis pilots had huge artillery cannons that hurled heavy slugs with devastating effect; more explosions rippled across the hull surface as the shells ripped through and exploded, exposing compressed air to the vacuum of space.  The results were horrific; huge sections of the hull were ripped apart as decompression took place, and the laws of physics did almost as much damage as the Aestivalis' themselves.

Meanwhile, Lee Gardner and his own section of Panthers circled around, searching for a spot on the "mother ship" that emanated unusually large amounts of boson particles, per orders from Admiral Hong.  As the section flew over a particularly large oval protrusion, the boson detector spiked, and Gardner knew he had his target.

"Pathers on me; target acquired," he spoke calmly into his mike.  Double-taps on the comm net responded to his voice.  Pushing the controls down and to the side, the Aestivalis pilot accelerated his mecha into a lazy parabolic curve downward into the "mother ship."  Drawing out his retractable knife, Gardner hit the estimated point of contact with the distortion field, and after a few agonizing moments, broke through with his knife-point.  Immediately, targeting reticules positioned themselves over the bulb, and Gardner got the affirmative locking tone.  Thumbs firmly pressed the triggers, and thirty-six missiles crammed with high-explosive arced out into the bulb, connecting and tearing it apart in a massive explosion.  Similar salvoes slammed into the "mother ship" from the other pilots of his squadron, and Gardner sprayed the area with assault rifle fire before pulling up and away.

The close-in attack proved brutally effective; the Panthers retreated on orders, leaving behind a badly damaged and crippled ship, but also four dead of their own.

"Remaining battleships report systems green! Alpha strike ready!" the communications officer shouted.

"Fire!" Another lance of explosive energy reached out with hungry hands towards the stricken "mother ship," smothering it in man-made fire.  At last, the ovoid Unknown vessel broke in space and disintegrated into its molecular components.  To Admiral Hong's great surprise, the silver mecha and other capital ships within the vicinity also deactivated, and began floating as ordinary space junk through space.

"What the hell is this?" he asked out loud.

Harada watched in satisfaction as sixty heavy battleships formed up next to the _Cosmos_.  Smaller frigates danced around the lumbering Unknown formation, picking off silver mecha and weakening the distortion fields on the larger capital ships.  As the enemy fleet approached, targeting reticules from the _Cosmos_' computer placed themselves over individual ships, coordinating the combined gravity blasts of 61 warships.

"Admiral Hong reports he has destroyed the kill target, sir.  He says that all enemy activity in his sector has ceased, and he is currently destroying everything so it can't reactivate."

Harada nodded approvingly. Hong was a brilliant commander. Now it was time for Harada to earn his dues.

"Target in range! Alpha strike ready to go!"

"Hasha! Give it everything you've got!" Harada watched eagerly as the gravity blasts raced towards the Unknowns…and then suddenly disappeared.

A gaping black maw of dark void had appeared in front of the enemy fleet, and every gravity blast was sucked off course into the void, where it mysteriously vanished.  The Unknown fleet started glowing a bright white.

"What the hell just happened?" Harada demanded.

"I don't know, sir!" the sensors technician exclaimed, panicked. "All I'm detecting are transmission waves that are equivalent to that of a Chulip taking in an object!"

"A Chulip? What the hell does a Chulip have to do with absorbing energy waves?" Harada demanded, before the realization hit him. _If the Chulip provides instantaneous movement from one place to another…those energy blasts can be absorbed into a capacitor of sufficient size…and released via another Chulip…! _As if to confirm his suspicions, another black maw appeared in front of the Unknown fleet.

"I'm detecting large amounts of boson particles from the void!"

Harada turned white. "Shunt all power to the forward distortion fields!"

The technician barely made the change in time.

A single wave of energy pulsated through the UEC fleet a moment after the _Cosmos'_ distortion fields went to maximum power.  To all but the most careful observer, it would seem as if nothing had happened, but those with a sharp eye would've been able to see space itself bend a little, as a ripple went searing through the Earth warships.

Seconds later, massive explosions began taking place.

"Massive damage to the fleets!" the communications officer yelled. "I'm estimating at least 20% casualties!"

"Distortion fields are down to 10% only! One more blast, and we're finished!"

Harada clenched his fists in rage.  _Energy blasts won't work.  Range is too far for the Aestivalis, and that's assuming they'll be able to come up close.  That leaves one thing only…_

"All hands prepare to abandon ship!" he yelled. "We're going to ram the _Cosmos_ into that fucker!"

Fifteen minutes later, Harada watched on the bridge of the _Orchid_ as the ND-002 _Cosmos_ flew straight through the designated "mother ship" of the second half of the fleet.  A massive ship in itself, the _Cosmos_ cleaved through the enemy ship like a hot knife through butter, tearing it in half.  The badly damaged battleship careened wildly into another nearby Unknown vessel and the two exploded, taking a goodly sized portion of the enemy fleet with it.  As expected, with the destruction of the "mother ship," the remainder of the Unknown fleet went inactive and drifted through space, completely useless.

Harada angrily wiped tears away at the loss of his flagship.  The _Cosmos_ had been very dear to him.  He stomped up to the observation deck, and looked with horror at the chaos surrounding him. Debris floated everywhere; the remnants of UEC vessels and Unknown spaceships alike.  Flashes of laser light lit space as the UEC fleets continued to vaporize every intact Unknown ship left, to ensure it could not be reactivated.

"Casualty reports?" he asked with a heavy heart.  The response made his heart even heavier, and he punched a steel girder in rage and grief.

The UEC Space Fleets had fulfilled their duty; Mars had been protected, the Unknown advance had been stopped. But it had been done at a terrible price; over 40% of the defensive formations had been destroyed.  The 3rd and 1st Fleets were all but annihilated, and the 21st and 7th had sustained heavy losses.

The opening shots for the War of the Unknowns had ended in an inglorious, bloody, and thoroughly devastating tie.

Author's Notes: I don't know about you, but for me, this was a really fun chapter to write!  One of the things I wish Nadesico had were more battle scenes…the humor was great, the philosophy was wonderful, but I think it would've been awesome if the series had the same kind of battle scenes that the Movie had…the Movie was incredibly awesome in terms of mecha action!  I hoped to reproduce that action here, and I hope I did a good job.

I experimented with a different writing style today; instead of finishing entire scenes between people, I skipped between one scene and the next, tying them together at the end.  I think it makes it more interesting, but again, I'm not sure how well I did.  To every aspiring writer, whatever they write seems to them worthy of a Nobel Prize in literature, or maybe a Newberry Gold Medal or something like that.

I'm happy with all the reviews I'm getting! I'm sorry about the late update, but as you can see, this chapter was also extremely long (they seem to get longer every year), and so naturally it took me a long time to write.

I'm hoping to get the next chapter done before I leave for a cruise in the Caribbean on the 20th…I'll try very hard to make this next deadline, I really will!

So, please read and review, thank you for all your reviews, I'm going to try and read your own works as well as a sort of "thank you," as soon as I have the time, which I should have plenty of when I get back from my cruise during the relaxing Christmas break!

Until then, happy holidays everyone!


	6. Chapter Five

UEC 3rd Fleet Command and Control Center, orbiting above Mars

"None of them managed to get any data at all?" Admiral Harada inquired, disbelief visible in his shocked eyes. Harada, Admiral Hong, and Representative Harujyon were inside a debriefing room in the 3rd Fleet's control center, meticulously going over ever detail of the recent battle.

Admiral Hong shook his head. "None at all, sir. All of my research ships were either at the wrong place, were destroyed, or had their sensor equipment jammed. In all due likelihood," he said, gesturing towards the Jovian representative, "our Unknown friends probably learned to seek out and destroy research vessels during their fight with the Jovians."

"Representative Harujyon?" Harada asked pointedly.

The Jovian stiffened and saluted in response. "Admiral Hong is correct in that assessment, sir. Nearly all our research vessels have been attacked, with casualties onboard reaching in excess of eighty-five percent."

"So none of us have any new data whatsoever about these tactics the Unknowns are using now?" Harada said, referring to the mysteriously devastating boson particle emissions from the "mother ships." 

"On the contrary," Harujyon replied, "One of our research ships, the _Cowboy Johnny_, registered such activity on its scanners before being attacked and presumably destroyed.  This was before the Unknowns began actively searching out research vessels and jamming analytical sensors."

"Wonderful. Perhaps the wreck is still floating around somewhere, with its data disks intact, for us to find and pick up in order to learn all the secrets to win this damn war," Harada replied sarcastically.

"Actually," Harujyon said, completely unfazed with Harada's hostility, "you may find this vid-clip rather interesting. It was a transmission from the _Cowboy Johnny_ just a half hour before we lost contact with it." Harujyon's fingers deftly adjusted the controls on the holographic panel, and in a few seconds a vid-screen flashed above their heads.

Five minutes into, Harada cursed.  Ten seconds later, he cursed again.  After the vid-clip was done playing, he swore violently. Another vid-clip flashed in front of him, displaying a communications officer.

"Sir, we've just established radio contact with the _Nadesico_ and her escorts. They're within two hours of the FEBA," he said, referring to the Forward Edge of the Battle Area, or the place where all the fighting was taking place.

Harada nodded. "Good timing. Open up a communications link with them on the bridge. I'll be there in five."

"Hai." The vid-screen disappeared, and Harada stood up.  The two other men stood up with him.

"Representative Harujyon, I guess it's time we retrieved those data disks of yours," Harada said with a shark-like grin. It was about time something good happened for the UEC.

"Saburouta-san, are you almost done yet?" Haley-kun complained bitterly from his computer console.

The older Jovian officer merely ignored him.

"Saburouta-san! Are you even listening to me?"

No reply.

Haley threw his hands up in exasperation. "Saburouta-san! You've been reading the kanchou's manga for two and a half hours! In two more, we'll be at Mars! It's been my turn to read for at least forty-five minutes! Saburouta-san!"

Saburouta merely shook his head, took out a pair of earplugs, and stuck them on, before returning to his (actually Ruri's) copy of Ururun.

By this time, Haley-kun was close to tears, and he turned to his captain with a pleading look in his eyes. "Kanchou, are you just going to let Saburouta-san keep your book like that?"

Ruri had been sitting in her captain's chair the whole two and a half hours Saburouta-san had been reading, with nothing to do.  Bored beyond imagination, she had spent the last hour staring off into space with her head cupped in her hands. Glancing at Haley, and seeing his pleading puppy-dog eyes, she closed her own and sighed tiredly.

"Baka," she murmured dreamily as she lay her head on her arms and slouched unto her computer console.

A second later, communications officer Akira ripped off his headset and shouted up to Ruri, "O illustrious and most beloved Captain of ours! A message from God himself!"

"Who is it?" Ruri asked, her eyes still closed.

"Admiral Harada, commander of the UEC 3rd Fleet, and the Supreme Commander of the Mars Defensive Command, wishes to have a nice chit-chat with you," the tan officer drawled. "Shall I tell him you're having tea?" he asked in a fake British accent.

"I just don't understand that guy," Saburouta murmured, while flipping through the pages in Ururun.

Ruri reflected for a moment before replying, "Yes, open up the communications channel, please."

"Your wish is my grudgingly accepted command," Akira returned, making a fake bow before turning back to the communications equipment. Kotone quietly giggled at her post.

The doors to the command center's bridge slid open silently and quickly hissed shut as Harada strode purposefully through them. The communications officer lifted up his head and saluted before saying, "Sir, communications link with the _Nadesico_ has been established."

"Very good." The admiral walked up to his command chair and sat down. "Let's get this over with."

Onboard the Nadesico, a vid-screen flashed in front of Ruri, and she quickly straightened herself into a perfect salute. The image of Admiral Harada, Commander in Chief of the Martian Defensive Fleet, materialized in front of her.

"Greetings, Captain Hoshino Ruri," he said in a tough gravelly voice that hinted at years of combat experience, "and welcome to the wastelands of Mars."

"It is an honor to meet you, Admiral," the petit fairy replied impeccably.

"Status report, please," Harada ordered crisply.

"Hai. The _Nadesico_ is currently enroute to Mars with escort ships _Amaryllis, Crusader, Triton_, and _Cricket_. Estimated time of arrival is one hour and forty-five minutes. All systems are functioning at optimum levels, and the escort fleet reports no mechanical malfunction whatsoever. Crew strength is at full one hundred percent, and we are ready to report for duty."

The admiral nodded in approval. "Excellent, Captain. We already have a task for you and your ship to complete."

Ruri cocked her head questioningly.

Harada's screen split into two, with the admiral localized on the left half of the vid-screen, while a computer space map took up the right half. Vector lines appeared, along with coordinates and estimated positions of Unknown ships.

"About thirty thousand kilometers beyond the FEBA is the wreckage of a Jovian research vessel, the _Cowboy Johnny_," Harada explained. A single blue blip appeared on the map to designate the location of the vessel. "During the Jovian withdrawal to UEC lines, the _Cowboy Johnny_ was attacked and presumably destroyed by the Unknowns while recording and analyzing data. We think they were recording a new weapon that the Unknowns have, one that unleashed unheard-of havoc on the fleet."

"If I may ask, what sort of havoc, Admiral?"

Harada shook his head. "Imagine thirty battleships exploding simultaneously in the blink of an eye. It's a weapon on a greater scale of destruction than the gravity blast cannon. Anyways," he continued, "before the _Cowboy Johnny_ was destroyed, the captain managed to send off a message that we received. You might find this interesting."

The admiral disappeared from the vid-screen, and the map took up the whole display before shifting to a recording transmission module. After a brief second of static, a fuzzy video feed of a Jovian officer with blond hair and a grizzly yellow beard materialized in front of Ruri.  The video and audio feed from the recording were awful, but Ruri could make out words between the hisses from the static.

"…current…out of course…sensors detected…aly…radioactive…of some kind…unsure…tigate further…back when we have more information…" the Jovian captain said between hisses of static. He looked down, apparently at a status board, and his eyebrows raised as he realized he missed something. He glanced up again and said, "Also…weird thing…drifting off…to be mecha…sort…Aestivalis, we stipulate…" then the video feed cut off and Harada appeared once more.

"That wasn't the entire clip," he said, "but you get the general gist. Whatever the _Cowboy Johnny_ detected, it was the same thing that started exploding battleships all over the defensive fleet. We hypothesize it has something to do with radioactive boson particles, but we don't know if that's even possible, and so we need the data disks on that ship." The admiral leaned forward into the vid-screen. "Captain, your mission is to retrieve those disks at any cost. Command and control will be transmitting you the pertinent missions data within the hour. Harada, out." And with that, the vid-screen disappeared.

Saburouta whistled softly as he looked up from his reading. "The Admiral's heaped a huge one on us," he observed. "Looks like we'll be pretty busy for the next day or so."

Ruri nodded in agreement. "I'll have to talk to Seiya…Shinta-san about arming the Aestivalis for this particular mission. We may have to use batteries for extensive out-of-range tactics."

Saburouta nodded, as he lay the Ururun manga on top of his computer console. Immediately, Haley-kun's eyes lit up. "I agree, we might want to use the Aestivalis as a decoy to draw away forces…though that'll leave this ship vulnerable to those mass mecha attacks the Unknowns are so found of," Saburouta conjectured out loud. "Perhaps if the Admiral could schedule a diversionary attack while we infiltrate?"

"That would be most helpful; I will discuss that with Admiral Harada as soon as possible…" Ruri trailed off, her eyes shifting to a point beyond Saburouta. 

Curious, the Jovian lieutenant looked back and saw Haley next to him, hands almost on the Ururun manga. Immediately, the Jovian lunged to save his precious book, but Haley was too quick and snatched it away victoriously from the greedy lieutenant. Saburouta wailed in agony and total defeat, while the young boy raised the Ururun over his head and smiled in glee. Turning back to Ruri, Haley-kun handed her Ururun copy to her with a flourish.

Ruri was surprised. "What are you doing, Haley-kun? I thought you wanted to read this."

Haley shrugged. "Well, you were looking really bored the last few hours while Saburouta was reading this," he fidgeted uncomfortably, "so I thought it'd be best if you got it back so you can…you know, finish. Besides, you have to complete your notes anyway, don't you?"

Ruri nodded.

"Well, I can wait until you're done with it then; just tell me when you've finished," Haley-kun concluded gallantly, with a look of determination mixed with noble suffering.

His captain took the pro-offered manga with a small smile. "That was very kind and noble of you, Haley-kun," she said with an approving tone.

Haley blushed and looked down at his shoes. "Well, it was nothing, kanchou…"

Saburouta sighed in misery as he contemplated the next two hours without the Ururun copy. "I wonder what an Aestivalis was doing in a Jovian ship," he wondered out loud as his thoughts drifted towards the upcoming mission.

Ruri started at these words. Saburouta was right, Admiral Harada had mentioned an Aestivalis onboard the _Cowboy Johnny_. But what on earth was an Aestivalis doing onboard a Jovian vessel? Could it be…his Aestivalis?

_I wonder what color it is_, Ruri thought with some slight apprehension. _And if it is his, I hope he's okay…_

"Enemy activity detected in Omega Sector! Large amounts of Unknown capital ships descending upon defense line Echo! Sensors detect a huge spike in boson particles around the area!"

Harada reacted immediately, shouting, "Fall back! Concentrate the 3rd and 11th fleets into a doubled defensive pattern at Omega Sector! Control, arm and input data coordinates for the CC missiles!" A chorus of "hais" created his command, and Harada silently thanked the heavens for the decision to make the CC missiles.  After the first disastrous battle, Harada had brain-stormed for an hour before reaching a feasible solution for the Unknowns' new boson-particle weapon. The CC crystals that were so abundant on Mars, and one of the top strategic commodities available, were right below where Harada was orbiting! CC crystals are known for absorbing boson particles and instigating a reaction that altered the atomic arrangement of substances, allowing them to move, quite literally, through space and time. If the new Unknown weapon used boson particles, hopefully, the CC crystals would absorb them and react, and with nothing within the vicinity to teleport with the crystals, the UEC would have an effective temporary defensive weapon against the new Unknown weapon.

That was assuming, of course, Harada thought pessimistically, that the whole damn idea worked in the first place. He also hoped that if it did, there were enough CC crystals on Mars to sustain them until a new strategy could be forged.

Seating himself at his command chair, the Admiral opened up a vid-screen of his own and began typing a FLASH-priority telex message. Destination: _Nadesico_. 

"Incoming telex message from 3rd UEC Fleet headquarters," Haley-kun reported as Omoikane displayed the warning on his screen.

"Let's hear it, Haley," Saburouta said.

"It reads, 'currently under heavy attack by Unknowns. Expected window of infiltration of six hours, as currently all known enemy units on the battle line are concentrated in Sector Omega. We will pin them down for you. Good luck.'" Haley-kun swiveled in his chair to face Saburouta. "Well, Saburouta-san, looks like you've got your diversion."

"Yes, well, let's hope they survive through that diversion, Haley."

Uribatake Shinta had been working for eight hours straight, alone, in one of the maintenance workshops of the _Nadesico_. His fellow members of the maintenance crew had watched him for a few minutes in studied interest, but, as the hours grew long, they had grown bored and left to do better things like drool over Amano Hikaru, and put her yet higher in a classified position on the List of the Hottest Females aboard the _Nadesico_. Unfortunately, rebellion threatened to split apart the maintenance crew, as a strong minority believed that Hikaru even surpassed the beauty of their captain herself, while the dominant majority fiercely defended the honor and title of their electronic fairy as the number one lady on the List of the Hottest Females aboard the _Nadesico_.

Shinta smiled as he put the last finishing touches on his latest and greatest invention. Lifting off his welding helmet and stowing it under the work table, he adjusted his glasses and peered closely at his creation, to make sure there were no flaws or imperfections. His trained eyes scanned the cold metal surfaces of his ingenius contraption for the slightest flaw in the reinforced titanium alloy. Dirty, greasy, and achingly sore fingers caressed the artificial diamond he had painstakingly embedded into the titanium, searching for cracks, holes, spaces, anything that might give him the excuse to spend even more time on his beloved new toy.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

It was perfect.

Shinta stood stock still for a second, reveling in the glory of the moment, before grinning like a madman. Picking up his arc welding tools, he hurled them out the door before prancing about like a madman, whooping in glee. Seeing this, the maintenance boys groaned and collectively shook their heads in annoyance. They looked at each other, shrugged, and thought to themselves_, not again!_

"Massive boson particle readings emanating from the enemy fleet!" a technician yelled. "Enemy attack is imminent!"

Harada nodded, turning towards the communications officer. "Send a dispatch to the missile silos. Launch the CC missiles in a box pattern over Omega sector!" Unbeknownst to anybody, the Admiral quietly crossed his fingers behind his back. "Let's hope this damned contraption works," he muttered to himself.

"What is it, Shinta-san?" Saburouta tiredly asked the maintenance chief, who was winking at him like a madman over the vid-screen.

"I have something here you have to see! My newest and greatest invention! With this baby, we'll sweep the Unknowns off the map!" Shinta exulted, spinning in circles across the screen. Suddenly, the vid-screen zipped across the bridge, and a surprised Ryoko found herself staring at Shinta's leering face. "You should go too," he ordered, "I've got enough for both of you."

Ryoko looked up at Saburouta, who merely shrugged. Sighing in defeat, she replied, "Fine, Shinta-san. We're coming."

The maintenance chief gave a whoop of joy before signing off, and the two pilots rose out of their chairs to leave. "Be back in a few," Saburouta called back over his shoulder, hands in his pockets, before the bridge door slid shut behind him.

"Missiles launched! Estimated time of impact…ten seconds!"

"Damn it, that might be too long!" Harada snapped back. "Give me an ETA on the enemy alpha strike!"

The technician looked up apologetically, worry etched across his face. "Impossible to measure, sir. The boson particles are too unstable to definitely judge their exact release time. Computations suggest," he paused for a brief second as he input a few numbers into his computer, "that enemy fire may begin anywhere between five seconds to a whole minute!"

Harada banged his fist on his computer console in anger as he listened to the countdown to missile impact. The entire bridge room was silent, the tension practically palpable in the cool air-conditioned room.

"Ten…nine…eight…." _Still no sign of enemy activity_. Beads of sweat started to trickle down Harada's face, and he impatiently wiped them away with his hand.

"Seven…six…five…." _Come on, come on!_

"Four…three…two…"

Suddenly, alarm klaxons rang all over the bridge and the emergency warning lights blinked a rapid and disorientating red. 

The technician swiveled in his chair, pure fear in his face. "Incoming enemy volley! Incoming enemy volley! All hands prepare for impact!"

"This better be good," Saburouta groused as he and Ryoko entered the Aestivalis hangar bay. Ryoko nodded in agreement, arms crossed menacingly in front of her.

Shinta stood in the bay at a distance from the two, facing away from them with his hands at his hips and legs splayed far apart. He seemed to purposefully striking an overtly dramatic pose that only served to make him look like a fool. Turning his head, he grinned and waved them closer, gesturing at a nearby Aestivalis that was hidden behind a maintenance shaft. 

"The hell is he doing?" Saburouta wondered out loud.

"I have no idea. Maybe he reworked one of the Aestis?" Ryoko suggested, as the two observed Shinta impatiently waving his arms at them.

"If so, it better be a good upgrade. Like a katana or something. That'd be really cool, wouldn't it" the Jovian lieutenant grinned as he thought about flying through space with the Katana of Everlasting Doom in his grasp.

Ryoko stuck out her tongue at him. "Yeah, whatever, hotshot."

"Hurry it up, you spineless evildoers!" Shinta yelled at them from far away. "You're killing me with the suspense!"

At this, the two pilots shared a look before continuing to walk towards the maintenance chief and his mysterious new toy.

"One!" The tactical officer's voice could still be heard clearly over the din of the alarm klaxons. As Harada watched, Omega sector blossomed into a cloud of glittering dust as the CC missiles disgorged their load of precious crystals.

At the same time, the Unknown fleet released a murderous wave of boson particle energy designed to annihilate the UEC fleet in one blow.

Time seemed to come to an end as the boson particles smashed into the field of CC crystals and began to react. Space itself distorted as massive amounts of energy were concentrated into the crystals, and minute boson reactions began, quickly accelerating into a eye-dazzling symphony of colored lights and flashes.

"Get me a damage report!" Harada ordered as the crystals finally reacted, warping anything around them through time and space…if there had been anything. The crystals had done their job, absorbing the enemy blast and converting it into a harmless reaction.

"Vessels report no damage whatsoever! Preparations for a counterstrike are underway!"

Almost as quickly as it had started, the boson reactions ended, and all that was left was a completely intact UEC fleet, and a seemingly defenseless Unknown armada.

The bridge room erupted into cheers as UEC vessels began to strike back, and gravity blasts began ripping through the Unknown formations, ravaging entire squadrons of the mysterious enemy vessels.

After Saburouta had left, Ruri continued her reading with a small sigh of relief. Now she could read in peace. Five minutes into her book however, she noticed someone breathing faintly down the back of her neck, and she turned her head slightly to see who it was, a faint suspicion already in her mind.

Sure enough, Haley-kun was right behind her, reading over her shoulders and studying the illustrations with a look of fierce intensity.

"What is it now, Haley-kun?" Ruri asked tiredly.

"Well…kanchou…," he stuttered, fidgeting with his fingers. "I just thought I'd read along with you…maybe help you with your notes or something?" he suggested in a hopeful voice.

Ruri considered this for a second and nodded, shifting the manga to a position that would make reading comfortable for them both. In companionable silence, the two devoured the book, pointing every now and then an interesting tidbit or a helpful hint, and meticulously writing them down on Ruri's notepad.

Kotone giggled as she watched them, and Akira gave her a rather odd look.

"What's so funny?" he asked, gesturing at the two young teenagers.

Kotone giggled again. "Seeing the two of them like that," she explained, waving her hand in their general direction, "they would make such a cute couple together, don't you think?" She laughed at the thought, clapping her hands at the thought. "They really should hook up! It would be so wonderful! It's like they were made for each other!" she gushed with glee.

Akira gave her another odd look before returning to his console. "What a weird person," he muttered to himself while turning on his music and donning a pair of headphones. Leaning back in his chair, he checked the chronograph: five hours to reach the _Cowboy Johnny_. Plenty of time for a nap.

Suddenly, the silence of the bridge was interrupted by wild noises of excitement and exultation, as a vid-screen popped up with Saburouta's and Ryoko's faces pressed up close against it.

"Kanchou!" they shouted in unison. Ruri and Haley-kun jumped in surprise at that, as they looked up to see who it was.

"Guess what, Ruri! You wouldn't believe what Shinta-san has made for us!" Ryoko said excitedly. "It's the greatest—" 

Saburouta-san in his joy pushed Ryoko out of the way as he tried to explain himself. "It's the greatest weapon in the history of the world, Captain! With this baby, we'll turn the tide of the war in no time!" 

In the distance, Ruri could hear Ryoko snarling, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"What exactly is this wonder weapon, if I may ask?" Ruri asked quietly.

Shinta-san pushed Saburouta-san's face down under the vid-screen and pressed his own face up close. "It's a wonder of engineering!" he declared in a manic voice. "It took me the entire trip to Mars to hammer my babies to perfection! Take a look at them!" Over the protests of both Saburouta and Ryoko, the maintenance technician panned the vid-screen towards the Aestivalis. Ruri and Haley-kun gasped in surprise at what they saw.

The Aestivalis had been stripped down and practically rebuilt all the way up. A newer, more compact generator was installed in the back to reduce bulk, and high-tensile service motors had been installed in the arms to ensure greater mobility and reaction time. The zero-g space frame had been wrapped around the Aestivalis, but was altered to reduce the armor around the arms and to add more around the torso and chest, with more thruster jets added to the back and inertial compensators liberally sprinkled everywhere. 

As if by afterthought, a head decoration had been added to the Aestivalis, and the overall effect was that of a samurai of ancient days.

"I've changed the appearance of the Aestivalis to better coincide with the new weapons I've made for it!" Shinta-san announced proudly. "Maneuverability was increased with extra inertial compensators and thruster jets, and the strength and speed of the arms were enhanced by a factor of three! And better yet," he declared, panning the vid-screen once more, "I have these for them!"

"Shinta-san, are those katanas?" Haley-kun blurted out.

And indeed, they were. Two polished katanas, gigantic in size, were displayed on the wall next to the Aestvalis, and Ryoko and Saburouta were caressing them lovingly.

"I constructed them out of titanium alloy, and embedded diamond into the blade," the maintenance chief explained. "The result is a sword that is difficult to destroy and that can cut through almost anything! It is the ultimate weapon!"

"I see," Ruri said. "It is a most impressive weapon that you have created, Shinta-san. However," she murmured, cutting off Shinta's shout of joy, "where did you get the funds to build these and to upgrade the Aestivalis like that?"

At this, the maintenance chief puffed out his chest, put his hands on his hips, and laughed once in defiance. "Where do you think I got the funds, captain?" he declared in a deep and heroic voice, before signing off.

Ruri shook her head. "He's just like Seiya-san," she murmured quietly.

"Damn it!" Akira observed crossly. "Can't a guy get any sleep around here?"

One hour, thirty minutes later

The _Nadesico_ was at full battle stations.

The _Nadesico _was in enemy territory.

Ruri watched as Omoikane's graphical representation of the _Nadesico_ crossed the imaginary line that indicated the border between UEC territory and Unknown territory. Nothing but silence and emptiness surrounded the ship as it slipped quietly through enemy lines.  Thousands of kilometers away, Harada's UEC fleets were pinning the Unknown armada down in an attempt to clear a pathway for the small reconnaissance fleet to complete its mission.

So far, it had been a smashing success.

Far off in the distance, a light show of grandiose proportions was taking place, as UEC battleships and Unknown "mother ships" faced off against each other. Small explosions and beams of light lit the horizon as the crew silently watched the battle rage from afar. From the battlefield, it would take the Nadesico a little over three hours to reach the _Cowboy Johnny_ and download the data disks. It would be a long three hours.

Ruri turned away from the flashing lights of the battle and returned to her computer screens. If the data disks in the _Cowboy Johnny_ were really that valuable, there was a good chance that there'd be an enemy presence around it to prevent the UEC from getting those disks. Ruri would have to come up with a plan that could not fail; there would be no reinforcements thousands of kilometers behind enemy lines.

She studied her display panel carefully. She had at her disposal the _Nadesico_, which in itself was a very powerful asset, along with the heavy battleship _Crusader_ and its freakish captain. The mobile cruiser _Amaryllis_ was ideal against mech swarms, and Ruri made a mental note to keep that in mind when she deployed her fleet.  The frigate _Triton _and _Cricket_ were practically useless in a situation like this, though. They didn't have the armor or firepower to take on an Unknown ship, and their weapons weren't specialized enough to prove effective against a nimble mecha. Six Aestivalis pilots were available, with two of them completely retrofitted by Shinta to serve as samurai Aestis. _How odd_, Ruri thought, _I didn't realize there were six pilots. I know only four of them…I wonder who the other two are? _She hoped they were good; if the _Nadesico _got caught in a bind, she'd be depending on them for help.

"Saburouta-san, Haley-kun, I think it is time we started planning tactics for the recovery of the data disks," the beautiful fairy quietly announced.

The two men swiveled in their seats and nodded their affirmative.

"So, how will we start?" Haley asked. "Do we know if there's a guard force around the ship?"

"No, we don't," Ruri answered. "So we will have to assume there is one." Her white fingers pressed some buttons on her console, and a screen popped up in front of the three of them, depicting the _Cowboy Johnny_, and the area around it. "All we know about the environment surrounding the ship is that there were several cruisers with it when it was destroyed, and currently the wreckage of all the ships are floating in this area." Graphical representations of four wrecks appeared. "The _Cowboy Johnny_ is identified via its extremely long sensory antennae, which every other ship in that area lacks. There are no asteroids, no comets, nothing in the area to hide enemy ships other than those wrecks," Ruri concluded.

Saburouta leaned forward and studied the display intently. "I recognize the cruiser class. None of the Unknown ships can hide behind one of those without us seeing it. On the other hand, you could hide a good amount of their mechs behind one of those.  If they were to have a guard force, mechs would be it."

"But we've never seen their mechs alone, without a support ship," Haley pointed out. "They're always coming out of a carrier ship of some type. Kind of like the Aestis."

"Yes, so if they were to have an effective guard force, they would have to have capital ships of some type," Ruri finished for them. "And they would be out in the open."

"And easy for us to destroy," Saburouta stated confidently. "We just use the gravity blast cannon and our job is done, yes?"  
            "No," Ruri answered back. The two men blinked in surprise.

"Why not?" Haley-kun asked.

"Because it would make detection too easy; the Unknowns would probably detect our energy profile and we would never make it back to UEC lines in one piece," Ruri answered. "We need another way to destroy those ships."

"If we can't use energy weapons, we're back to brute physical force," Saburouta mused. "And none of the ships has a missile system of any kind. That just leaves…"

"The Aestivalis?" Haley piped up.

Ruri nodded, swiveling her chair back to the vid-screen and inputting some more keys. More symbols showed up, depicting two Unknown ships in the area. "To effectively cover the area, only two ships are needed to garrison the wrecks. So far, the Unknowns have been very efficient at what they've done, so I think we need not fear for a larger force. Two ships will be all that they have. If the _Nadesico_ stays out of their detection range, then we can deploy Aestivalis' to destroy them at close range." A dotted line appeared to visualize the estimated detection range of the ships.

"The only problem with that is that the detection range is too far for the Aestivalis," Saburouta said after studying the diagram. "We'll be out of the _Nadesico's_ range, and our battery power won't last long in combat. Plus, what'll we do with all those mechs hiding in the wreckage?"

"If we destroy the capital ships though, the mechs will stop working, we've seen that before," Haley-kun pointed out. "And with those new generators Shinta installed, Omoikane says you'll have at least ten minutes to destroy those ships. There'll be six Aestivalis', so three to each one…it can't take more than two minutes for you to cut through them," the young boy reasoned.

"Very good, Haley-kun," Ruri observed. The young boy grinned sheepishly.

"I guess that settles it then," Saburouta said. "We take the Aestis in on the solar sails, activate at point blank range, and take them by surprise. They can't detect us if our systems aren't active. Then, the _Nadesico_ moves in and we board the ship via shuttle. Who'll be in the boarding party?"

"Unfortunately, we can only have one person," Ruri said. "The _Nadesico_ no longer has the _Hinagiku_ like we used to. All we have is a one person shuttle." _Like the one the kanchou and Megumi-san took to "save" Tenkawa-san_, she thought.

Saburouta and Haley sighed. "Well, we have to choose one person then," Haley-kun said. "How about I go…"

"No."

"Why not, kanchou?"  
            "I'll need you to command the fleet while I'm gone."

"Huh? What are you talking about, kanchou?" Haley asked.

"I'll be going down to the ship, Haley-kun," Ruri answered. "Of all of us here, I have the most expertise in extracting electronic data. Besides, I am genetically engineered," she said in a flat monotone. "I know how to fly and defend myself."

Instantly, visions of ace-pilot Ruri weaving intricate dances of death and Rambo-Ruri with bandana, ammo belts, twin assault rifles and a cigarette in her mouth popped up in Haley's and Saburouta's head.

"Saburouta, I'll be leaving you in tactical command of the Aestivalis squadron, and you'll also be responsible for securing the perimeter and providing shuttle escort when I get to the ship and when I return," Ruri continued. "Haley-kun," she said, turning to the young boy, "I'm leaving you in command of the fleet; if enemy vessels appear, it's up to you to defend me and the _Cowboy Johnny_ from them."

It took a second for the two men to realize that Ruri was dead serious. 

"Wait a second, kanchou!" Haley said urgently. "Are you serious about going down there alone?"  
            "It's dangerous," Saburouta warned. "There's no telling what's still in the wreckage; the Unknowns could be there in person, waiting for you!"

"I am proficient with light weaponry, and I am fairly adequate at flying a shuttle," Ruri replied, somewhat annoyed.

"Kanchou, you know how to use a gun?" Haley-kun asked, in awe.

"Not a gun, exactly. I modified the standard issue pistol to shoot rubber bullets," Ruri explained, "and for the Unknowns, I have these." With that, she held up a single blue bullet.

"What is that?"  
            "EMP bullet," she replied matter-of-factly.

"What makes you think they'll be electronic?" Haley demanded. Ruri didn't answer, but memories of the Great War wafted through her head. The young captain got up and walked out of the bridge. 

"I'll begin prepping the shuttle for launch," she said over her shoulder. "Haley-kun, Saburouta-san, you should begin preparations also."

The two men shared a look before sighing in defeat.

Omega Sector

The battle had been raging on for nearly three and a half hours, Harada realized. Nevertheless, the UEC fleets were doing far better than they had the last time.

With the protection of the CC missiles, the UEC fleets ravaged the Unknowns with near impunity, immune from their boson particle projections. The Unknowns still had their plasma weaponry, but they lost their tactical advantage over Harada. Alpha strikes from the remaining heavy battleships ripped through their lines like a hot knife through butter.

Losses had still been heavy for the fleets, but the toll on the Unknowns was greater. The armada had thrown everything into Omega Sector, but the doubled defensive formation Harada had set up managed to throw back every single attack the Unknowns had hurled against it.

"Sir, _Stardust_ is reporting that the Unknown forces are retreating!" the communications officer shouted.

Harada grinned as he watched the vid-screen. The shattered remnants of the Unknown assault force were pulling back now, behind a protective screen of mecha. "Send a dispatch to the 3rd fleet!" he ordered. "I want them to chase the Unknowns back the way they came from!" With luck, he realized, the UEC fleets just might recover all the ground they had lost the previous day. And with reinforcements within three days' journey from Earth, the UEC might be able to retake Jupiter if there were enough CC crystals left.

If the First Battle for Mars had been a bloody stalemate, then the Second Battle was a smashing victory for Earth.

Harada turned back to his bridge crew, who shared the same look of relief and satisfaction that he had. "Now everything's up to the _Nadesico_," he announced. "Let's hope those guys don't find them when they come back," he muttered to himself, glancing back at the retreating enemy fleet.

Three hundred kilometers from the _Cowboy Johnny_

"We're at the estimated range of detection for the Unknown ships," Haley-kun murmured at the vid-screen, which displayed Saburouta-san in his pilots' suit. "The captain was right, there are only two vessels; I'm downloading the situational data to you right now." The Jovian pilot gave a thumbs-up as soon as he received it, and Haley-kun returned it. "Good luck," the young boy simply said.

Saburouta checked his Aestivalis systems once more, and activated the vid-screen to the rest of his squadron. Instantly, small images of Ryoko, Izumi, Hikaru, and two other pilots (whose faces were hidden behind reflective helmets) appeared in front of him. "We just got the okay from Haley," the XO officer said simply. "Launch the Aestivalis manually, and as soon as you're out power down and activate the solar sail. We don't want to give them any more help in detecting us."

"Hai!" all five answered at once. As each pilot activated his mech, the Aestivalis' eyes started glowing, and within five minutes, all the mechs were spaceborn, floating through the deep black void towards their destination.

"Haley-kun, can you get me a situational report?" Ruri asked from within the cramped confines of the cockpit.

Another vid-screen instantly appeared, and Haley-kun said, "Of course, kanchou. Saburouta just launched, and they're on the solar sail right now. Estimated time of contact is approximately fifteen minutes; they'll be within fifty kilometers, and they'll close in the rest of the way on thruster jets."

"Good job, Haley-kun," Ruri replied approvingly. "Notify me once they've started attacking."

"Why?"  
            "Because that's when I'll take off myself."

"But kanchou, don't you think that's a bit dangerous? They might not be finished by the time you get close to the wrecks; the hidden mechas might get you!"

"It's a chance I'll have to take," the young girl replied simply. "The less time we spend here, the safer the _Nadesico _will be."

"True," Haley conceded with a frown. "But you shouldn't put yourself in unnecessary danger." He chewed his lip worriedly. "Be careful out there, captain."

Ruri smirked a little. "Of course, Haley-kun."

Haley swiveled away from the vid-screen, shutting it off. "Omoikane, get me a low-key scan of the sector," he ordered. "Make it as stealthy as possible." Instantly, the computer complied, and a series of windows popped up around Haley-kun, forming a semi-transparent bubble.  Looking the windows over, Haley-kun picked one out from the selection, and closed the rest before studying it closely.

Three hundred kilometers from the wreckage and the Unknown vessels. Fifteen minutes for the Aestvalis' to get there. Haley-kun realized he'd have to watch the vessels and the wreckage very closely for any sign that they had been detected. He sighed as he queued up some more sensory data. It would be a tense fifteen minutes.

Saburouta noticed that it was awfully quiet as he drifted through space. No one was making a sound, not even talking or cracking a joke. Even Izumi wasn't rambling on about some strange topic, or laughing maniacally at one of her cryptic jokes.

As the Aestivalis pilots floated through space, slowly getting closer to the wreckage, each of the pilots began to fidget as the nervousness built up. Hikaru tried to grab a few minutes of sleep; Ryoko cracked her knuckles in both anticipation and anxiety; Izumi stared blankly out into the blackness of space; and the two mystery pilots calmly and professionally checked their system status, militant to the extreme. Saburouta just watched the clock. Ten minutes left.

Ruri checked the chronograph on her shuttle. Seven minutes left before the Aestivalis' would probably reach the capital ships. She went over her own control board, checking to make sure all systems were green. In another two minutes, she would start warming up the engines, and when the fighting started, she would blast out of the Nadesico's hull, and race straight toward the _Cowboy Johnny_, betting on the shuttle's lightning fast speed to get her past any dangers or obstacles.

"Oh, crap." Haley-kun checked the screen again to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. Immediately, upon verification, he opened up a vid-screen to Saburouta. "Saburouta-san, are you there?" he whispered quietly.

"Hai, what is it?" The Jovian officer appeared tense.

"Trouble."

Ruri jumped in surprise as the _Nadesico_ suddenly started rumbling. It sounded like the engines were suddenly being turned to full power. What was going on? She opened up a vid-screen. "Haley-kun, what's going on?" she asked quizzically.

There was no reply.

"Haley-kun?"  
  


"Where are they now?" Saburouta asked pensively.

"I'm not sure," Haley-kun confessed. "We're on the very edge of the Nadesico's active scanning systems, too. Before, we can barely detect them. Now, they've moved somewhere, and Omoikane has lost them. Only thing I have is a 'probable' zone where those ships would most likely be."

Saburouta swore under his breath. "Okay, upload the file for me."

"Hai." Haley-kun's fingers flew across the keyboard. "Should be coming any second now."

"Got it." The lieutenant scanned the screen before he swore again. "Damn it, Haley! This 'probable' zone of yours is way too big! If we guess wrong, we'll be so far away from those Unknown ships they'll have enough time to call the clans in on us!"

"I know, I know," Haley replied worriedly. "But it's the best we got."

The Jovian shook his head. "This is bad, Haley. Really bad."

"What do you think they're talking about?" Kotone asked Akira in a quiet voice, gesturing at Haley-kun, who was animatedly waving his arms at a particular vid-screen.

"I don't know. He looks stressed out, though, huh?" Akira asked, leaning back on his chair with his legs propped up against his console. With the ship on restricted communications, he didn't have much of a job to do.

"Yeah. He needs a little stress relief," Kotone suggested with a small giggle.

At this, Akira's eyebrows went up and a mischievous look crossed his face. "Well, I've got something that'll relieve his stress," he said, flipping through his CD carrying case. "Ah! Here it is!" he announced proudly, as he held up a single CD with his two fingers.

"What is it?"

"Just listen," Akira said as he popped it into his console. "You'll like it. It's loud."

Ruri was starting to get a little worried herself. Haley-kun had yet to reply to her increasingly insistent demands on the vid-screen for information. Was he busy with something? Was something going on outside? Maybe the plan was upset from unforeseen obstacles? The electronic fairy checked her chronograph again. Another three minutes had passed; now she was running a bit behind. Immediately, she began warming up the engine.

"I'm moving the _Nadesico_ in closer, to see if we can acquire the targets again," Haley-kun told Saburouta.

"That means we'll be moving into its probable detection radius," the Jovian warned.

"I know that," the boy sighed. "But it's either that or the 'probable' zone. Which do you prefer, Saburouta-san?" 

Saburouta whistled softly. "Fine, let's do it. Tell me if you find anything."

"Hai," Haley-kun said, killing the video feed. He swiveled around and opened up a sensory screen again, not noticing the urgent beeping sound of a blocked vid-screen.

"Hey, why isn't it working?" Kotone asked Akira, once she had finished accelerating the ship, per Haley's orders.

"CDs are pretty old nowadays," Akira replied, fiddling with his console. "I have to fight with this damn piece of crap to make it accept the format." Suddenly, the console began smoking and Akira smiled in satisfaction. "There we go. Now it's working." He slipped the CD in and hit a couple of keys. "Listen up," he said, pushing the volume dial to the "spontaneously combust your eardrums" setting.

_Two minutes to go_, Ruri thought, _and still no reply from Haley-kun. I hope nothing bad has happened._ Ruri revved up the engines, and ran through the preflight checklist once more. All sensor systems were active, engines were at full power, distortion field was green. Everything was good to go. The young girl flipped a few more switches, and the hangar bay opened. One minute left.

Haley-kun looked up as another beeping screen slid in front of his face. The shuttle hangar bay doors were opening! _Oh, crap!_ he thought, panicking. _I forgot to tell the kanchou about this!_ At the same time, another screen beeped and flew in front of his face. Haley-kun glanced at it and stopped cold. It was another sensory screen.

It was the two Unknown ships, but they were closer than before. _Nadesico_ was in their detection radius, and now swarms of mecha were hurtling out of them.

_The kanchou's about to take off! She'll die if she runs into that!_ Haley swiveled in his chair and saw Ruri's ignored vid-screen three feet away from him. He sprang up to his feet and was about to run over when a veritable wave of sound hit him from behind.

A single chord made up of brass instruments crashed through the bridge, creating an effect much like that of a very large and very loud organ with lots of microphones attached to it. As the piece continued, the chords progressed higher and higher with more instruments joining in, and the bridge quaked with the power behind Brahm's fourth symphony, last movement.

The shock of the sudden music, combined with the earsplitting chords, disoriented Haley-kun enough to the point that he tripped and hit the metal floor hard. Scrabbling to his feet, he managed to look up in time to see the chronograph hit zero.

It was time. Ruri activated the engines, and opened the throttle. The roar of the compact fusion engines filled up the hangar bay, and Ruri was pressed into her seat as the shuttle roared out into the blackness of space. Orientating herself, Ruri put the shuttle into a sharp turn towards the wreckage…and gasped in shock.

The two Unknown ships were only two hundred or so kilometers away, and closing in fast. Swarms of mecha flew in front of them, and the energy signature from her shuttle engines was great enough that forty or so of them changed course and acquired her ship as their target.

Ruri's hands gripped the joystick tightly, and her eyes screwed tight in concentration. This would be a lot harder than she had planned.

"Saburouta-san!" Haley-kun screamed into the vid-screen, trying to be heard above the blasts of music. "Are you there?"  
            "What is it, Haley?" he answered, alarmed at the fear in the boy's voice and the music in the background. "What happened?"

"The Unknown ships reappeared on the scope! They're two hundred and twenty seven kilometers away, and closing in fast! You should be within thirty clicks of them! Activate and destroy them now! The kanchou's out there!"  
            "The kanchou's what?!"

"The kanchou's out there right now! And the Unknowns have already launched their mecha!"

Saburouta swore as he cut the video feed abruptly, and activated the comm system with his Aestivalis squadron. "Pilots, we're in thirty clicks of the target!" he announced tersely. "Search and destroy! Split up and take out the capital ships! Ignore the mecha if you can; the Unknown carriers take priority! Hikaru and Izumi, you'll have to take one of the carriers on yourself," he ordered grimly. "The captain's out there and there's mechas out for her. I'm going to try to shake them off her tail!"

A chorus of "hais!" greeted his command, and Saburouta shed his solar sail, activating his Aestivalis and pulling out his katana. "Okay bastards, here I come!" he shouted as he activated his thruster jets. The Aestivalis accelerated to blazing speeds in a fraction of a second, and Saburouta left a wake of destruction as he hacked through the mecha swarm in a desperate attempt to reach Ruri's shuttle before it was too late.

Ruri gritted her teeth as the inertial compensators pushed her deep into her seat. Her shuttle was roaring by at breakneck speed, but the mechas were hot on her tail. She had already bypassed the capital ships, but a look at her scanner indicated that even more mechs were swarming out of the wreckage in front of her. _I probably won't make it_, she thought with cold logic. A swarm of missiles flew past her as her pursuers opened fire, and Ruri winced as one missile exploded right next to her ship, weakening the distortion field and causing the ship to shudder and the screens to flicker.

Ruri grasped the controls and banked hard to the right in an attempt to evade the missiles; looking behind her left shoulder, she noted with satisfaction that her tight turn and high speed had thrown her off the missiles' path. She twisted down hard and banked left, turning back on course, zigzagging every so often to throw off any new missiles.

_Only one hundred kilometers to go_, she thought. _I have to make it._

A new swarm of missiles shot out past her, and two more made a direct hit on her fantail. The entire shuttle shuddered again, and Ruri almost lost control, but managed to claw her ship back into position again. Red warning lights blinked everywhere and klaxons started to ring, but Ruri ignored them. She jammed the afterburners on, and the shuttle rocketed away even faster, but the mechas continued to give chase.

Saburouta was almost at the shuttle. Ripping through another Unknown mecha with his katana, Saburouta took his other hand to grasp what was left of the machine and hurled it at the swarm chasing his captain's ship. The wreck collided with two other mechas, and the trio exploded, taking another five with them.

Saburouta slammed straight into the midst of the swarm, hacking and slashing indiscriminately with his katana. Mecha dissolved before his flashing, dancing sword, and in no time the Jovian pilot had ripped through the swarm like a forest fire through dry wood.

The lieutenant opened up a comm channel with the shuttle. "I took care of your pursuers," he shouted over the communications net, "but watch for the ones in front of you! The others should be taking out the capital ships any second now!"

At first, there was nothing but static, but then he could hear the faint voice of his captain.

"Arigato, Saburouta-san. I'll be careful." With that, the transmission ended, and the shuttle receded into the distance.

Ruri narrowed her eyes as she rapidly approached the next swarm. She'd have to barrel right through if she hoped to survive; there wasn't enough room for any fancy maneuvering. Just as she was about to put on the afterburner though, the swarm went limp, and the mechas went silent.

Ruri gave a small sigh of relief. The capital ships were gone.

Haley-kun gave a small sigh of relief as he watched the sensory screen. The Aestivalis pilots had taken out the capital ships in record time, motivated by the danger their captain was in, and Saburouta had defended Ruri with admirable competence. The threat was over…for now.

"It's all up to you now, kanchou," he said quietly.

Inside the _Cowboy Johnny_

The boarding took place with no incident whatsoever, and Ruri was mildly surprised to discover that the life-support system and air integrity of the ship was largely intact. There was no need for her oxygen helmet whatsoever, and the white fairy took hers off gratefully. The helmet was awfully cramped with all her hair stuffed in it. Taking out her pistol and a flashlight, Ruri slowly and carefully made her way down the empty corridors towards the bridge.

The ship was dark, and with the air circulation vents off, damp. The air was stagnant and humid at the same time, and coupled with the dancing shadows from her flashlight, the effect was creepy one. Ruri found herself investigating every little sound that emanated from the empty corridors, and chided herself for her foolishness. In ten minutes, she was at the bridge room.

The computers were dusty and many of them broken, so it took Ruri fifteen minutes to find a console she could activate with her small battery pack.  The screen lit up with an eerie blue color, and data started rolling down the screen. Ruri pulled out the keyboard and began typing rapidly, sticking two data disks into the console to record the information. The transfer was quick; in half a minute, Ruri had all the data she needed, and she flipped the console off. Her work here was done.

Then, she heard it.

It wasn't the random creaking one would normally hear within an empty hallway. This was measured pacing. Slow. Deliberate. To her ear, it almost sounded…

Murderous.

Immediately, Ruri's pistol was out and cocked next to her ear, held in the classic Weaver position, two hands on the grip. She crouched down low next to the console and flipped the flashlight off. Her genetically enhanced eyes got accustomed to the darkness in seconds, and she strained her ears to hear the noise again.

_There!_ She could hear it again. It sounded like metallic footsteps…and from the pattern the steps were making, Ruri could tell it was other a quadruped, or at least a humanoid on all fours. _But what would either possibility be doing in a place like this? Everyone should be dead! Unless…_

The mystery creature rounded the corridor and entered the bridge. Ruri took one glimpse at it and gasped in horror.

It was a monster straight out of a horror movie, with glistening metal skin and two red, glowing eyes. It resembled a giant praying mantis, with long, thing arms that ended in razor sharp claws and pincers, and four legs attached to its lower abdomen, with a separate upper abdomen made of thick metal plates. Tentacle slithered out of its lower abdomen, four on each side, with each tentacle sporting nasty spines or claws. Its head was shaped almost like a seed, with its evil thin eyes and two horrific pincers around its jaw. A liquid of unknown color or property, but most likely poison, dripped from its mouth.

Ruri immediately lifted up her pistol, aiming between the creature's eyes, and fired a single shot. A blue EMP bullet shot out and hit the creature square in the face. Blue arcs of electricity arced over the monster, and it shuddered once before falling to the ground, twitching.

Immediately, Ruri raced past it, out the bridge and towards the docking bay. She heard more metallic scrabbling sounds behind her, approaching rapidly. She turned, loading another EMP bullet into her clip. Two more monsters appeared behind her, turning the corner, and gave chase. Ruri dropped to one knee, took aim again, and hit one monster in the chest; it fell to the floor twitching just like the first one, and blocked the pathway for its partner. Ignoring the last creature, Ruri turned and ran again, racing past dark corridors and empty chambers.

She was almost at the docking bay when she heard more scrabbling sounds, but this time in front of her. She loaded her last EMP bullet before rounding the corner, and found herself face to face with another one of the monsters. It gave a hair-raising shriek before swinging at her with a claw, but Ruri managed to jump back just in time. Hitting the floor hard, she scrambled to her feet and ran back the way she came, trying to get some distance between them. Ten feet away, she dropped to her knee again, aimed, and fired, but this time the EMP bullet missed, striking the wall next to the monster, which continued to advance.

Ruri stumbled backwards, and reloaded her pistol with her rubber bullets. Taking aim, she fired them one after another, but they had no effect on the monster. She turned to run back the way she came, but another creature had appeared and now blocked her path! The girl stopped in her tracks, rapidly thinking of a way to get out of the situation. Suddenly, the creature in front of her lunged forward, its head suddenly shooting out in front of a rapidly elongating neck. Ruri cried out in surprise and lunged sideways to dodge, but it was too late.

The monster's pincers dug deep into Ruri's left shoulder, and she cried out in pain as they tore into her flesh. Blood coursed down her shoulder, and Ruri felt cold liquid that seemed to burn like fiery ice into her veins. _It must be poison_, she thought groggily, as the world around began to dim and grow blurry.

As her knees gave away and she began to slip to the floor, she noticed movement in front of her that wasn't from the monster…what was she looking at?

Without warning, her attacking monster split in half, and a shape raced past her, twin katanas held in two hands. Ruri managed to only catch a humanoid body, human hair, and human hands, as she slipped further into unconsciousness. Her ears dimly registered the screeching sounds of metal being sundered; her mysterious savior had just sliced the other monster in half.

Strong arms moved under her, and she felt herself being lifted up by sure, strong hands. Turning her head, she weakly looked up at whoever had saved her. It was a human…a man dressed in black, with something on his face. _What does he have there?_ she wondered weakly.

It was…a covering of some sort. A black covering that covered his eyes and nose.

He had brown hair that was spiky and untidy, and had that covering not been there, black eyes that radiated kindness, burned with fierceness, and trembled in anxiety or fear.

Ruri's eyes widened in surprise as recognition dawned upon her.

It was him!

_Akito!_ her mind screamed. _It's Akito!_

Her hand reached up to touch him…to see if he was real, or if this was just a hallucination of her mind because of the poison….

And then everything went black.

Author's Notes: Yet another really long chapter done! Really late, I might add too. I seem to have trouble keeping with my planned update dates. Hmmm. Next time, I'll make a more realistic one, and I swear by everything that's holy that I'll make it the next time! I mean it! It'll be my New Year's Resolution. Resolution Numero Uno: stay on time with your updates!

Well, since I just posted this, I guess you guys can tell I'm back from my vacation! The cruise was awesome, the food was great, but I must've gained four pounds and I got seasick once from all those waves. Whoah…still a bit dizzy.

Anyway, I finally got this chapter done, and boy, it was a doozy! This chapter and the next I think are pivotal moments, so I'm gonna try and write them very carefully. Please tell me how well you think I did; I appreciate any and all feedback. You want to tell me I'm a crappy writer? Heck, go right ahead (of course, you can always tell me I did a great job too, but I'm not suggesting anything, y'know, **hint hint** ^_^)

So, anyway, I tried something new here too. I kept the switching scenes thing that I tried out last time; people said it really made the story better, so I kept it. But this time I tried adding some tension and suspense into the storyplot by rapidly switching between characters and scenes, incorporating cliffhangers in each paragraph, and stuff like that. I tried to create situations between Haley, Ruri, and Saburouta where the audience knows something that the other characters don't now; for example, Ruri didn't know about all those Unknowns out there, but you guys did. Sorta. I'm not sure how well I did with the whole suspense thingy, so again, tell me how I did.

Well, that about wraps it! Oh, and by the way, if you're wondering what Akira was playing, like I said in the story, it was Brahm's Symphony No. 4, fourth movement. If you guys can, you should listen to it. You'll see what I mean by brass chords that sound like an organ. It's very cool; when I hear it, I see Dante's gates of Hell and the inscription "abandon all hope, ye who enter here." Muahahahaha! ^_^

Anyway, please read and review! Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter Six

There were green fields before her. An endless sea of perfect green grass, rippling lazily in the wind, greeted her view. Small dots of color, flowers of every size, shape, and color, graced the landscape, creating a vision so beautiful she wanted to just sit in the grass and drink in the sight.

_The air was temperate, warm, and felt just right on her skin; not too hot, not too cold; not too humid, not too dry. The sun was out and shining, but its soft rays did not burn her skin or irritate her eyes. If there ever was a perfect day, this was it._

Laughter could be hard in the distance; a young girl laughing in glee as she ran across the field. She watched her with lazy curiosity, studying her; for some reason, she looked familiar. Her subject had pale, almost white skin, purple hair that had an eye-captivating sheen to it, and eyes of golden amber. It was her eyes that struck her the most; even though her face and voice exhibited joy, her eyes seemed…devoid of warmth. Emotionless. Cold. Logical.

_She shuddered as she realized who it was. It was her._

_Soon, the Ruri of years long past disappeared from view, and in its place, an older, calmer, and taller Ruri walked complacently through the fields. This time, she recognized herself immediately; this was the Ruri who boarded the Nadesico for the very first time. The uniform, the one she once looked so natural in, now looked new, stiff, and uncomfortable, as the young girl wore it for the first time. She noticed with some embarrassment that her younger self kept on pulling at the starched collar, as if it and her black tie were choking her. Her hair was longer now, in two pigtails that many would later find "cute" and "adorable" onboard the Nadesico. But her eyes…her eyes were still the same. Emotionless. Cold. Logical._

_The eleven year-old Ruri disappeared into the horizon, and once more, she saw herself wandering through the fields, just a year after the Great War had ended. She smiled a little upon seeing her past visage. She was no longer in uniform; instead, she had on a wonderful sky-blue dress that went down to her ankles and as she walked through the fields she twirled around, causing the dress to bloom and swirl around her as if she was a dancing flower. The fourteen-year old girl was a visage of beauty as she meandered her way through the field, and Ruri took a moment to appreciate how much she had grown during those few short years. Her hair was even longer now, to the point where her twin pigtails reached far down her back, but it was her eyes that again caught her attention. This time, they were not the same. Not as emotionless. Not as cold. Not as logical._

_Why? she wondered. What caused me to change so much?_

_She watched as the last Ruri disappeared from view, and contemplated her change in nature. Seeing herself in the past…as a toddler, as a child, and as a teenager…it was…_

_She was watching a journey of the self, she decided. A quest to see who she was…and what had made her the way she was. Why am I who I am?_

_As she continued to watch the field, another Ruri appeared, the same Ruri aboard the Nadesico, only a familiar and reassuring sight was with her. She remembered his dark brown hair, the friendly brown eyes and the quick smile and uplifting comment he always had for her after they had become acquainted. She saw him smile his usual heart-warming grin at her younger self, watched him ruffle the younger Ruri's hair and say something, before walking off again into the distance. She saw the carefully hidden blush creep into her younger self's cheeks…before all disappeared from view._

_Slowly, darkness enveloped her once again in a cocoon that was both confining and yet releasing. Her mind became numb, her thoughts muddled and relaxed. Before she delved once again into the ocean of deep sleep, a single thought ran through her mind…_

_A journey of the self…what will be next?_

Ruri woke up to find herself in an unfamiliar room. Gazing up at the ceiling, she sighed and grimaced in pain as a sudden ache swept through her shoulder. Instantly, memories came flooding back of the monsters on the wreckage of the _Cowboy Johnny_, and she shuddered slightly in remembrance. Rising into a sitting position on the bed, she looked around, and found herself in a hospital ward of some sort. A series of windows lay parallel to her bed, and looking through them, she saw rolling hills of green grass with several trees planted at random intervals. For all she knew, she could be on Earth again…where was this hospital?

Ruri started to get out of the bed, but a sudden spell of dizziness prompted her to stay in. As she pulled the covers over her petite body, she noticed a single IV tube stuck in her right arm, and frowned as she traced the tube up to a single bag on the rack. The label on the bag read _saline solution_, and she wondered vaguely why she would ever need a _saline solution_ after being attacked by nightmarish metal monsters.

The door to the ward suddenly opened with a "whoosh" of air, and Ryoko stuck her head in. Her face lit up in surprise and joy at seeing Ruri up and about, and she ran to the bed and gave Ruri a warm bear hug, nearly crushing the poor young girl in her grasp.

"Ruri! You're okay!" she cried happily. "We were so worried when you got back to the _Nadesico!_ We thought for sure you would be done for!" She broke off the bear hug to look closely into Ruri's eyes. "Ruri, are you alright?" she asked. "You look kind of confused."

"Yes, I'm fine," Ruri answered. "It's just…I remember being attacked…but I don't recall how I managed to reach the _Nadesico_ or this hospital." She shook her head. "What happened?"

At this, Ryoko grabbed Ruri into a headlock and began rubbing a fist into her head. "You little whelp!" she accused the innocent captain, "You mean to tell me the entire crew has been worried sick about you and you don't remember what the hell happened in there?!"

Ruri grimaced slightly in pain as she took the punishment. "I'm sorry, Ryoko-san," she replied, "But that's the way things turned out."  
            Ryoko sighed once and released her from the headlock. "Geez Ruri," she sighed. "You're not suffering from that weird screwed-up mind thing, right? What's it called again…amnesia. You don't have amnesia, do you?"

"Ryoko, I was poisoned by a monster."

Ryoko laughed in embarrassment. "Oh yeah. That's right."

Ruri started to smooth out the now-crinkled bed sheet with her pale fingers. "While you're here Ryoko-san," she said, "would you mind telling me what exactly happened after I got attacked?"  
            Ryoko looked slightly puzzled. "Ruri, don't tell me you don't remember Akito at all!" she exclaimed.  
            More memories came flooding back now, and Ruri's eyes widened slightly as she recollected those final dramatic moments before she blacked out. The face…the mask…the eyes…everything came back in a single tidal wave that crashed around her head and brought about a brief spell of dizziness. "Where is he?" she asked, almost eagerly, sitting up straight, surprising Ryoko with her directness.

"Um…well, he's in the hospital," Ryoko said with concern and worry etched all over her face. "But he's in really bad shape. He took a nice beating getting you back to the _Nadesico_," she informed Ruri with a touch of sadness and a bit of admiration. "That idiot," she muttered to herself. _I can't believe he just showed up like that…what a screwed up world._

"Is he okay?" Ruri asked sharply, looking unusually distraught for someone who was so well-trained in hiding her emotions.

Ryoko blinked rapidly in surprise. "Er, well I guess you can say he's alive…but…he's not doing so well," she explained slowly, trying to avoid the topic. "And I think it'd be best if…you didn't go visit him for a while." She looked down uncomfortably, unable to meet Ruri's penetrating gaze.

There was an awful moment of stunned silence. 

Slowly, Ruri's shoulders slumped down and she sank back against the fluffy white hospital pillow, a distantly sad look on her face. Ruri closed her eyes and rubbed them gently with her pale fingers. "Ryoko-san, please tell me what happened after I blacked out," she said quietly.

Ryoko eyed her warily, debating whether or not it was a good idea to tell Ruri what exactly happened after she had blacked out. After a few seconds, she wilted under Ruri's blank stare, and pulled up a hospital chair. Sitting down on it, she winced and muttered, "Damn, this is uncomfortable." _In more ways than one. _Pausing to recollect her thoughts, she sighed and said, "Okay Ruri, this is how it went. After you blacked out, Akito rescued you, right?" The young girl nodded. "Well, while you were getting rescued in there, there was some pretty exciting stuff going on outside; the Unknowns had boson jumped into the sector and we were fighting swarms of the damn things off…"

Haley-kun struggled back onto the captain's chair and glared furiously at Akira, who was staring back at him innocently. Loud trumpet blasts and exhilarating violin runs were still emanating through the bridge, though the communications officer had kindly lowered the volume. "Turn the music off!" Haley demanded, his face red with anger. "Do you realize what you almost did? You almost killed our captain!"

_At this, Akira only bobbed his head, grinning like an idiot, before swiveling around in his chair and fiddling with his console. Before Haley could berate him again with another angry outburst, or throttle him with his own two hands, a vid-screen popped up in front of him: it was a worried Captain Ararigi. Klaxons could be heard blaring in the distance behind the middle-aged officer, along with the sounds of running and commands being issued._

_"Lieutenant Haley, there appears to be a slight problem," Ararigi intoned wisely, looking somewhat troubled._

_Haley sighed with exasperation. "What is it now, Captain?"_

_"The _Crusader's_ sensors just detected a spike in boson emanations in the area. We think an Unknown task force is going to jump on top of us any minute now."_

_Haley groaned out loud. "Great, just great, Captain! Do you have any idea where they'll be?"  
            "In fact, yes," Ararigi replied, and another screen popped up next to him, displaying a map of the area. "The vector shaded in blue is the estimated jump point for the enemy fleet. As you can see," he said, gesturing in a vague direction, "the vector is right above us."_

_"Okay, deploy the _Crusader_ for battle. Position yourself facing away from the wreckage so you can gravity blast the fleet as soon as they jump. Deploy the frigates nearby for close-range support. Don't let them near the wreck," Haley ordered._

_"Will do. Arargi, out." The vid-screen disappeared._

_Haley-kun stood up from the chair and gazed at Akira for a second, debating whether or not he really needed the guy. Finally, while chewing his lip, he decided Akira wasn't all that important, and activated his own console. "Omoikane," he said, "open a video feed with the _Amaryllis_. I want to talk to its captain, immediately." The computer beeped once in confirmation, and Akira swiveled in his chair, sticking up his middle finger at Haley, an annoyed expression on his face. Enraged, Haley-kun stuck out his tongue and turned away._

_"Yes, what is it?" Jun asked immediately as soon as the connection was made._

_"Captain Ararigi detected a boson reaction in the area. There should be an Unknown task force descending upon us any second now," Haley-kun informed the captain, uploading the data. "I'm sending you the vector coords right now. Ararigi and the two frigates are going to position themselves facing away from the wreckage, so they can bring all their firepower to bear on that vector."_

_"Okay," Jun replied. "What are we going to do?"  
            "Protect the captain at all cost," Haley-kun said with forcefulness. "She's still in the wreckage. We'll deploy so that we're between her and them, got it?"_

_Jun grinned. "Of course."_

"Akira's music was the reason why no one warned me about the danger?" Ruri asked.

"Well, basically, yeah," Ryoko said with anger in her voice. "And the next time I see that sucker I'm gonna pop him one in the face!" She slammed her fist into her open palm for emphasis.

"No, it's alright, Ryoko-san." Ruri looked down at her bed sheets. "It sounds like something that would've happened aboard the old _Nadesico_." She looked up with a faint smile. "Please continue, Ryoko-san."

Ryoko blinked in surprise. "Er, okay…"

_"They're coming, you say?" Saburouta asked in surprise inside his Aestivalis._

_Haley's head bobbed vigorously on the vid-screen. "Yeah, Saburouta-san, they are, any minute now. I'm sending you the vector coords right now."_

_Saburouta shrugged, twirling a lock of hair with his finger. "That's great and all, Haley, but what are we supposed to do? After all," he said, with a pointed look at Haley, "you're the one in charge."  
            "Omoikane predicts a ninety-seven percent chance that the Unknowns will release their mecha swarms at the wreckage. They know what valuable data it contains," Haley-kun explained. "The _Amaryllis_ can't handle them all. You and the squadron will have to defend the wreckage too."_

_"What about the frigates and the _Crusader_?"_

_"They'll have to fend for themselves, unless you wish to split the Aestivalis' up. I doubt the Unknowns will go after them though."_

_Saburouta shook his head. "It's still unwise to leave them hanging dry like that, Haley. I'll split the squadron in half, send three pilots to watch over them."_

_Haley shrugged. "If you really want to, Saburouta-san."_

_Suddenly, another screen popped up and began flashing red and making beeping sounds. "Oh boy," Saburouta quipped, "looks like they're here."_

_Haley nodded, his face now grim and serious. "Protect the captain, Saburouta-san!" With that, his screen disappeared._

_"Roger that," Saburouta murmured, as he pushed his Aestivalis to full throttle. _

_In the vastness of space, a single particular section near the wreckage began glowing with faint sparkles of light, before materializing into a small Unknown fleet of eleven vessels. Seven were relatively small ships, with three slightly larger vessels and one huge space-faring vessel that took position in the center._

Crusader_ and its two frigates were positioned in such a way that the fleet was centered right in their gunsights._

_"Target acquired!" the weapons officer announced. The shipboard computer flashed an image in front of Ararigi, displaying the predicted path of the gravity blast. It ran right through the center of the formation._

_"Open fire!" the captain bellowed._

_Immediately, a powerful blast of yellow energy burst out of the _Crusader's _barrel, hurtling straight into the center of one of the medium-sized vessels. Smaller beams of explosive light flew by, shot out of the laser turrets aboard the frigates. Almost instantly, three Unknown escort ships vanished into wreaths of flame._

_"Destruction confirmed for three enemy targets!"_

_"Gravity blast recharging…ready for firing!"_

_"Vector coordinates set; target acquired!"_

_Ararigi took a deep breath before he ordered again, "Fire!"_

_More Unknown vessels disappeared in fiery explosions._

_"He seems to be handling himself pretty well," Saburouta observed, watching the battle in his Aestivalis cockpit._

_"I don't think he needs us," Ryoko complained, arms crossed over her chest as she conversed with him via the vid-screen. "Honestly, he should leave some for us, don't you think?"_

_"Yeah," Saburouta muttered absent-mindedly, as he pondered the situation. _Something isn't right_, he thought. _The Unknowns are predictable, but they aren't this dumb. I wonder what they've planned this time…?

"Oi! Have you been listening to a single word, you idiot?" Ryoko shouted, interrupting Saburouta's thoughts.

_"What is it now, Ryoko?" he asked crossly._

_"Enemies, smartass, enemies!" she nearly screamed at him._

_"Huh?" Saburouta replied, confused. "I don't see any!"_

_"Look down at your radar!" she yelled, pointing down._

_Saburouta saw a screen filled with red dots. "Oh shit," he muttered._

_"Idiot!"_

_"Boson particles detected starboard! Enemy fleet inbound!" a bridge crewmember yelled out._

_"Where?" Haley-kun asked, startled, sitting up in his chair._

_The crewmember stood and pointed out through the observation windows. "Over there!"_

_And indeed, the place the bridge crewmember was pointing out was alive in a sparkling shower of scintillating lights, and as they died down, another Unknown fleet, this one even larger, appeared._

_Haley-kun stared for a second before he was able to speak. "Turn the _Nadesico _around! Arm the gravity blast cannon!"_

"Haley-kun sounds very capable in the command chair," Ruri observed quietly. "I never quite expected him to be cut out for captaincy of a warship."

"Is that so?" Ryoko asked, somewhat surprised. "I hope you didn't tell him that."

Ruri shook her head, blushing slightly. "I don't think I'm that blunt and straightforward, Ryoko-san."

Ryoko laughed. "I didn't mean it that way, Ruri, honest! Anyway," she said, continuing, "I'm almost to the good part…"

_Saburouta, Izumi, and one of the other new Aestivalis pilots rocketed through space, headed on an interception course with the new fleet that had boson jumped in. Saburouta had sent Ryoko and the other pilots to cover Ararigi. Already, the new fleet had disgorged its swarms of mecha, and being only a short distance from both the _Nadesico_ and the wreckage, posed a grave threat._

_Rapidly approaching, Saburouta could see flashes of light arc through space as the laser batteries aboard the _Amaryllis_ opened up, tearing apart the small mechs in fiery explosions and into clouds of molten metal._

_With a flash of light, Saburouta's katana appeared in his left hand, and the instant after, he blazed straight through the swarm. Immediately, the sharp blade sliced straight through one mecha, cleaving it in two and spinning it wildly off into space, where it collided with another formation and exploded. Saburouta blazed on ahead, and rammed the sword straight through another mech, impaling it all the way up to the katana's hilt. With his free hand, he roughly shoved the Unknown craft off the blade and rocketed upwards, the mecha exploding behind him. Scissoring to the right, Saburouta inverted and narrowly dodged a stream of missiles as some of the silver mechs began targeting him, lopping off the heads of three more mechs as he evaded long trails of death._

_Five flashes of light flew by, and more silver machines exploded as Saburouta's newbie pilot peppered the vicinity with deadly rail-gun slugs from her portable cannon. Three mechs exploded, and the swarm scattered. Some ran straight into Izumi's withering line of fire, and a score more fell under the blazing barrel of her assault rifle._

_"Like moths to the candle, they are attracted to the light and fall away, scorched," she murmured, before bursting into a fit of giggles at her own cryptic joke. Saburouta merely ignored her._

_With the first mech swarm stalled by the furious Aestivalis assault, Saburouta activated his afterburner and shot straight for the center of the Unknown fleet. The onboard computer flashed up, calculating angles and entry points from which Saburouta could hope to penetrate the distortion field. After a few seconds, a single red reticule placed itself over a particularly prominent projection on one of the medium-sized ships. Immediately, Saburouta brought the Aestivalis down in a dive straight towards the projection. Several hundred feet from the ship, space came alive as the katana rammed straight into the field, and sparks flew off, and the shield shifted as Saburouta fought to break through. Time seemed to slow down as the katana edge inched its way through the field…and then with a resounding crack, the field ruptured and Saburouta burst through._

_His Aestivalis ran low right over the projection, and Saburouta ran his sword underneath him, slicing through the projection. Racing past, the Jovian rolled over onto his back and, looking behind him, pumped all thirty-six missiles from his missile pods into the ship. Arcing up and over the vessel Saburouta saw it explode spectacularly in a white fireball._

_Suddenly, a vid-screen appeared, and Haley bellowed into Saburouta's ear, "Saburouta-san! Turn left, hard!"_

_Instinctively, Saburouta threw his weight to the port side, and the Aestivalis fairly tumbled through space, just as a massive beam of white light raced through where the Aestivalis once stood. Saburouta watched as the _Nadesico's_ gravity blast hammered the enemy formation, exploding five vessels into space dust._

_"Saburouta-san, are you okay?" Haley asked._

_Saburouta wiped his forehead clear of sweat with a gloved hand. "That was close, Haley, but yeah, I'm good," Saburouta answered._

_"That's good to hear, because Ryoko's in trouble."_

"Sounds like it was a very exciting battle," Ruri observed quietly, combing her hair with a brush Ryoko had given her as she listened.

"Oh, you've only heard half of it so far," Ryoko said with a knowing grin. "It gets better. So, after the first wave of Unknowns Ararigi dealt with, another one shows up, except it's even bigger this time! There were at least thirty ships, and the swarms of mechs just wouldn't stop…"

Ryoko's armored fist crashed straight through the glinting silver head of one Unknown mecha, crumpling it into a twisted piece of modern art, which she then hurled at another incoming swarm. Several more explosions lit up space as her projectile ripped through the swarm's center. Despite her efforts though, for every mecha she downed, ten more rose to replace it. It seemed hopeless.

_Hikaru's face appeared in front of her. "Ryoko, this looks bad," she said, chewing her lip. "There's too many of them!"  
            "Yeah, I can tell," Ryoko grunted as she twirled her Aestivalis into a wild evasive maneuver. A string of missiles exploded behind her. "We need those frigates! Where are those damn frigates?"_

_Suddenly, a much larger explosion filled the cockpit, and Ryoko gaped in surprise before she sputtered, "That better not be what I thought it was…"_

_Ararigi's face appeared next, heavyset and somber with loss. "That was the _Cricket._ All hands perished aboard. The _Triton _is also badly damaged; the captain may be abandoning ship—" A second explosion thundered in the distance, and Ararigi's face registered shock for a brief second. "And then there was one…" he murmured._

_"How's the _Crusader_ doing?" Ryoko asked. "Please tell me something good!"_

_"The situation could be better," Ararigi replied dryly, as Ryoko sought to both evade a fiery death and carry on a coherent conversation at the same time. "_Crusader_ has suffered heavy damage to its distortion shield and we have moderate hull damage, but the gravity blast canon is still functioning properly. We need help or else we'll be forced to retreat. There's too many Unknowns."_

_"Gee, thanks for stating the obvious!" Ryoko spat back, shutting the screen off. She needed to concentrate on surviving first; then, she could bullshit with Ararigi later. A hailstorm of blinking missiles rained down on her, and Ryoko careened her Aestivalis through space, desperately avoiding them. Her hands came up and the assault rifle in her hands barked once, sending a stream of high-powered slugs into several of the missiles, detonating them and any others close by in an explosion powerful enough to rock the Aestivalis. Several silver mecha appeared behind her, giving chase; before they had chance to open fire, Ryoko accurately pumped several rounds into each, exploding all of them before they could disgorge their missiles._

_Hikaru swooped in right behind Ryoko, coming to her rescue, and thirty-six red targeting reticules sighted themselves on Hikaru's screen before a confirmatory beep sounded. A second later, thirty-six high powered missiles swept past Ryoko, barely missing her, and detonated right in the middle of the swarm. Suddenly, the vector of space around them became very clear._

_"Nice job, Hikaru," Ryoko praised with relief. Hikaru grinned and giggled once before signing off._

"And after that, things started getting really bad," Ryoko warned.

"What happened?"

_"There's a ship coming out of the wreckage!" someone yelled on the bridge._

_"Really? Where?" Haley-kun asked eagerly._

_"Putting it on the display right now." A second later, a large vid-screen flashed on the bridge, with a single lone spacecraft flying a direct course to the _Nadesico_, but…_

_"That's not Ruri's shuttle," Haley said, confused. "What's a pink Aestivalis doing in the wreckage? And who's piloting it? Ruri's not trained to use of those," he muttered to himself._

_"I'm detecting a boson reaction in the Unknown fleet!"_

_Ararigi's face popped up. "More mechs inbound. Sensors registered another boson reaction. I think reinforcements may be coming."_

_Ryoko nodded, grinning like a shark. "Let 'em come, I'll rip the poor bastards to shreds."_

_Suddenly, everything turned white._

_Several ships in both Unknown fleets began glowing an eerie golden color, and had someone been close to or inside one of those ships, they would have heard the hum of enormous stores of high voltage energy being geared up. Almost at the same time, each ship released a beam of energy so focused as to make it appear almost invisible; it's only indicator was a brief flash of light at the point where it was shot, and the resultant explosion from what it hit._

_The Unknown ships arced their beams across both the _Crusader _battle group (or what was left) and the _Nadesico_ battle group._

_Explosions sprouted over the entire breadth of the _Crusader_, and the nose of the ship immediately crumpled under the force of impact. Several parts of the hull were breached, and more explosions ripped through the ship as compartments explosively depressurized, tearing crewmembers to pieces. Two of the engine sputtered out and the gravity blast cannon barrel was twisted out of alignment. The distortion fields failed, leaving the _Crusader _a sitting duck for the fleet._

Nadesico_ fared a little better, her front distortion fields collapsing and her rear fields weakened considerably. One of the two hangar bays onboard completely collapsed, and a phase transition engine was knocked out; the hull was breached in one place but otherwise, the _Nadesico_ was somewhat intact. The _Amaryllis _suffered the worst, being the smallest; nearly all of its gun batteries were knocked offline, its fields collapsed almost instantly, and the hull twisted out of alignment as explosions erupted across the entire length of the ship. Pieces of the _Amaryllis_ blasted out into space as compartmental depressurization took its toll on the ship. All but one of the engines was blasted out of the frame of the ship itself, leaving the _Amaryllis_ all but crippled and barely able to move._

_"What the hell just happened!" Ryoko yelled. A single white flash had engulfed her, and suddenly her Aestivalis was spinning in space; it took her nearly a whole minute of barely restrained terror to stop her inertia. Looking around, what she saw didn't please her. Her Aestivalis was missing a right arm and several plates of armor had been virtually liquefied off her chest plate; one of her optical sensors was completely off-line, and worse, she was missing her assault rifle, though her katana was still attached securely to her back._

_She tried activating the engines, but there was no response. "Damn!" she cursed angrily, slamming her fist on the console. The only things working were the inertial compensators, and those were useless for movement, much less combat._

_She looked up and paled considerably. There were more mechs inbound._

_Haley-kun picked himself off the floor, wiping dust off his uniform. Off in the distance, Akira was laughing maniacally, apparently amused at the situation. Scowling, Haley bellowed, "What the heck just happened?"_

_"An energy spike in the enemy fleet was detected! I think we were hit by something…we just don't know what. Damage is at moderate levels, but the ship is still battleworthy."_

_"The Aestivalis is under attack!" another voice yelled._

_Haley-kun looked out the observation windows, and sure enough, the pink Aestivalis was being swarmed by several dozen silver mecha._

_"Power the gravity blast cannon!"  
            "Hai!"_

Red klaxons went off wildly and yellow warning lights began flashing as the onboard computer registered several hundred missiles inbound, aimed straight at her. Ryoko flinched as she saw the white streaks get closer and closer…

Is this the end?_ she thought miserably. _

_Suddenly, there was a jolt and she found herself hurtling through space, held securely in the metallic grasp of another Aestivalis._

_"S…Saburouta-san?" she gasped._

_There was a chuckle from Saburouta's visage on the vid-screen. "But of course, who'd you expect?"_

_"W…what are you doing here, baka? It's dangerous!"_

_"No…really?" the Jovian asked sarcastically. "I'm here to save you, again."_

_Ryoko reddened. "Shut up! I don't need anyone to save me!"_

_"Didn't look like it from where I was."_

_Ryoko glowered for a second before she grudgingly replied, "Thanks, I guess."_

_Saburouta grinned slyly and said, "Anything for the princess, ne?" before winking, laughing after Ryoko turned bright pink._

_Using her good fist, Ryoko punched Saburouta's Aestivalis in the face. "Not funny," she retorted, still blushing._

_"Anyway," Saburouta managed after recovering from the blow, "We've got to get you out of here. The _Nadesico's _leaving and they're recalling the squadron."_

_More explosions burst around there, buffeting the two mechs and interrupting Saburouta with brief bursts of static._

_"Will we make it?"_

_            There were several more explosions. "We'll sure as hell try."_

"How very surprising," Ruri murmured quietly.

"Huh? Nani, Ruri?" Ryoko asked.

"It's unusual for Saburouta-san to act so…gallant," Ruri said after a moment.

Ryoko turned a bit red and glanced away. "Yeah, I know what you mean," she said, a little embarrassed.

_The pink Aestivalis twirled through space, desperately evading the missiles. Several flew past and exploded harmlessly, but one managed to detonate straight into the back of the Aestivalis, sending it hurtling wildly through space before its pilot managed to regain control. _

_Suddenly a vid-screen popped up in front of Haley, revealing a lone man with spiky brown hair and a strange black mask covering most of his face. There were cuts all over his face, and Haley could see a patch of darker black on his chest; apparently, the man was bleeding there too. "Open the hangar bay doors," he commanded sternly, "I've got your captain in here too. We need covering fire."_

Haley gulped and nodded quickly. "Is the gravity blast cannon ready yet?" he asked the bridge crew.

_"Hai! Weapons systems report green! Ready to fire!"_

Omoikane painted several dozen of the mechs with red targeting reticules, and beeped in confirmation. Haley nodded, took a deep breath, and shouted, "Hasha!"

_The Aestivalis pilot weaved through space, dodging several more missiles. Explosions rocked him back and forth and he desperately scissor-tailed downwards before bringing his Aestivalis in a steep upward climb, finally spiraling to the right in an effort to evade the long fingers of death that reached out to him. A missile exploded nearby, and the force of the blast hurled him to the left, right when the _Nadesico_ opened fire with it gravity blast canon._

_The energy beam lanced through space, and dozens of silver mecha disappeared within it, completely vaporized. Only luck helped the pilot evade the blast that he had almost nearly run into; a single explosion rocked the Aesti, and the pilot grunted in pain as he took several pieces of shrapnel, using his body as a shield to protect the unconscious Ruri that lay beside him. The gravity blast sheared off the left arm of the Aestivalis, but the pathway was momentarily clear. Drifting in and out of consciousness, the pilot reached the _Nadesico_ and landed in a heap right before Saburouta, Ryoko and the rest of the squadron arrived._

_The Aestivalis cockpit opened, and the pilot dropped down gracefully despite his wounds, carrying a deathly pale Ruri in his arms. Immediately, pandemonium broke out as soon as the maintenance crew saw their stricken captain, and she was practically hurled through the hallways at breakneck speed to the medical center. _

_His work complete, and in relative safety, Tenkawa Akito, missing for an entire year, collapsed to the ground._

"Amaryllis and Crusader report they're withdrawing now! All Aestivalis' have been recovered!" 

"Good, charge the canon again, we'll give covering fire while we get the heck out of here!" Haley ordered.

Ryoko sprang into the bridge, concern, shock and worry all over her face. "Ruri's in the medical ward, as is Saburouta-san," she reported breathlessly. "Both are in pretty bad condition, Haley-kun."

_Haley-kun's eyes watered for a brief second before he clenched his fists and regained his composure. _Gotta worry about the ship right now. No use crying over the Kanchou or that useless Saburouta-san if we're all dead…

_Ryoko watched as Haley-kun organized the withdrawal, barking orders and commanding the ship like an experienced admiral. Within her head, her thoughts churned as her mind went over again and again what she had seen. The figure collapsed on the hangar deck when she had landed, with a gurney rushing toward him. The face was familiar, though hidden by that hideous black mask…the hair she knew all too well. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. Where the hell had he come from? Her thoughts turned away from him, too confused and befuddled to fully grasp the situation. Instead, she focused on Saburouta. He had taken a beating dragging her back to base, using his Aesti as a veritable shield against the incessant missile barrages. _I hope that fool is okay_, she thought with a touch of affection._

_While the _Nadesico_ lay down a withering cover fire of gravity blasts, her crippled brethren, _Crusader _and _Amaryllis_, limped in retreat back toward UEC lines. Interestingly enough, after about two hundred kilometers, the Unknowns broke off pursuit and returned back to the wreck, swarming and completely destroying it in a matter of seconds before vanishing in a cloud of boson particles._

_Relieved that the enemy had apparently abandoned the pursuit of the _Nadesico_, the weary crewmembers began the long and lonely journey back home._

"And now here we are, back on Mars," Ryoko finished after close to a half-hour of story-telling. "Things were looking pretty hairy for you and Tenkawa, but they managed to get both of you under control. You were looking pretty bad yourself," she said, ruffling Ruri's newly brushed hair, "that poison you took was pretty nasty."

"Yes, it was," Ruri replied "It was a very strange feeling…like time was slowing down to the point where it just…stopped."

"…er, right," Ryoko said slowly. "Um…so, are you okay, Ruri?" she asked, a tone of hopefulness in her voice.

"Yes, I feel quite alright."

"Then…you don't mind if…," she blushed a little, "…I go visit…him, do you?"

Ryoko could've sworn she saw a look of slyness flit across Ruri's face for a fraction of a second. "And who might 'him,' be, Ryoko-san?"  
            "Etto…," she turned scarlet this time, "you know…just to see if Saburouta-san's okay…"

This time Ruri's face was infuriatingly blank. "You don't happen to have… feelings for Saburouta-san, do you, Ryoko-san?"

Ryoko fairly flew from her chair. "Of course not, Ruri!" she laughed uneasily. "Where did you get that idea from?"

"Oh? That's not what you told me last night in bed, Ryoko. You sang me words of love, in fact," a male voice said jovially. Ryoko spun around, and saw in the open doorway a certain particular Jovian lieutenant, wrapped in bandages and his left arm in a sling, grinning jauntily while leaning against the doorsill. Next to him, Haley-kun peered around the corner.

This time, Ryoko felt steam rising from her head as she blushed brighter than the sun. "Saburouta-san!" she said shrilly, "why the hell are you out of bed! You shouldn't even be here!"

Saburouta wagged a finger at her. "Tsk tsk tsk," he admonished, "you shouldn't change the subject like that!"

Ryoko stomped over to Saburouta and grabbed him by the ear. "And you're going straight back to bed," she huffed, dragging him along. "You might hurt yourself again, you fool."

"Hey!" the Jovian wailed in protest. "That hurts!"

"Should I sock you in the stomach and drag you back to your bed?"

"Just lead the way ma'am," Saburouta responded meekly.

Ryoko poked her head around the doorway. "I'll take this idiot back to bed, Ruri," she called out. "Get better soon!" Then, she disappeared, muttering "baka" to herself as she marched Saburouta down the halls.

Ruri shook her head, before noticing Haley-kun had quietly entered the room. She smiled, as he watched her timidly from afar. "Konichiwa, Haley-kun."

As Ruri watched, somewhat befuddled, Haley-kun's lower lip started trembling, and his eyes started to tear up. Startled, Ruri asked, "Haley-kun, what's wrong?"

At this, Haley gave out a heart-breaking sob, and threw himself at his captain, hugging her so tightly it almost hurt for Ruri to breath. Sobbing pitifully, he buried his head into Ruri's bedsheets, and began crying.

Ruri gaped for a moment in shocked silence, watching Haley cry a veritable wave of tears into her now soaked bedsheets. "…Haley-kun, what happened?" she asked in alarm.

"Kanchou! I was so worried!" Haley wailed morosely. "You looked like you were going to die…I didn't know what I was going to do with myself!"

Ruri blinked rapidly several times, confused by Haley's odd behavior. "Why are you crying?" she asked softly.

Haley-kun squeezed her even tighter, managing to say, "I'm so happy to see you're alive, kanchou," between sobs.

Ruri just sat in stunned silence for a few minutes as her mind raced through the events that had just occurred. Finally, she gave an affectionate smile and reached out, cupping either side of Haley-kun's face with her ghost-like hands. It was Haley-kun's turn to be surprised now as Ruri lifted his face up and peered closely into his eyes, a radiant smile hovering on her lips. They stayed that way for some period of time, and then, slowly, Ruri cradled Haley-kun's head to her chest, stroking his hair with her petite, pale hand. Haley gave a small whimper and sniffled a little bit. 

"It's okay, Haley-kun," Ruri said soothingly, "I'm fine now."

"Honestly, Saburouta, you need to take better care of yourself," Ryoko scolded as she tucked Saburouta in bed. Saburouta observed her with mild interest.

"It's very unlike you, you know, to look after people like this," he commented.

Ryoko blushed. "I don't know what you're talking about," she retorted. "I like to think I'm a very caring person, you know." She finished tucking in the last fold to the bed, and stepped back to admire her handiwork. "There," she announced proudly, "was that not a good job or what?"

"Sure," the Jovian responded sarcastically, "I feel like a mummy wrapped in layer after layer of hospital bedsheets. It hurts to breath and I can't move."

"It's for your own good," Ryoko snapped. "I don't know want you getting out of bed again."

"At least keep me company then," Saburouta pleaded, "there's no one else in this ward, and it gets oh so lonely," he concluded dramatically, rolling his eyes heavenward in his plea for aid.

Ryoko eyed him warily before sitting down next to him. "Fine, I guess I can stay for a bit." 

There was a few minutes of awkward silence. 

"So…do you need anything?" Ryoko asked timidly.

"Yes," Saburouta said, his face suddenly serious as he looked deeply into Ryoko's eyes.

"Ano…what…what is it?" Ryoko stuttered, slightly unnerved by his penetrating gaze.

"I need…you." Saburouta's voice conveyed urgency and determination as he tried to capture Ryoko with his gaze.

"What?!" Ryoko managed to wheeze out, as she felt her face turn hot. _What is he trying to say? Could he be…?_ she wondered, with a bit of excitement and a whole lot of dread.

"I need you to get me some food from the cafeteria," Saburouta pleaded, as his stomach growled loudly in the air. "I'm really hungry right now." His face lit up as he thought of something. "You can even hand feed me if you want!" he suggested proudly, grinning from ear to ear.

Ryoko stared at him, her jaw hitting the floor. A single sweatdrop appeared next to her head, and slowly grew longer before bursting into miniscule droplets.

"What?" Saburouta asked innocently.

At that instant, the hospital wing Saburouta's ward was located in was perfectly peaceful, and everything was in order. The next instant, a loud raging scream of the epitome of anger crashed through the halls, followed closely by the wail of ultimate despair. The hospital ward disappeared into a raging inferno of a fireball as Ryoko let loose her entire wrath on an already injured and thoroughly terrified Saburouta.

Haley-kun started upon Saburouta's screams for help and mercy, instinctively tightening his grip around Ruri as he tried to look around in bewilderment, hampered by Ruri's cradling arms. Ruri gave a small gasp of pain and winced.

"Ano…Haley-kun…you're making it hard to breath," she said in a pained voice.

Haley-kun looked up, and saw Ruri turning slightly blue and hastily disentangled himself from Ruri, sitting back on the bed. He rubbed the back of his head uneasily and gave a small laugh. "Oops. Heh, sorry kanchou."

Ruri gave him another radiant smile, and Haley-kun blushed and looked down at the tile floor.

Ruri gazed out the windows that ran parallel to her room, where the blooming meadows of green lay beyond. _I hope I get out of this hospital soon, _she thought.

I want to see him.

Author's Notes: Whew! Another long chapter finished! This one took a lot longer to write than the others, but I've been awfully busy with midterms and stuff, and now I have an instrumental competition coming up, so life isn't getting easier. I hope you guys like this chapter! I did something new, using a flashback as my medium of choice. Hopefully the italics don't get on your nerves too much, heh heh heh. I like this experimentation with different styles that I've been doing lately, though I don't know if the writing itself has been that great. Again, please review for me and tell me what to keep and what to burn.

Well! I added more Ryoko…heck, Ryoko's telling the whole story! I imagined a Ryoko narrator's voice while I was writing this…couldn't help but laugh at the thought. I think Ryoko/Saburouta makes a good combination, and I'm stressing that fact, but Saburouta is just….I dunno, so oblivious that it might take a while for those two to realize what's going on.

You guys mentioned stuff about Yurika. Don't worry, she'll make an entrance next chapter…just not the way you expected. She doesn't play all that big a role appearance wise, but I think she'll be felt later on throughout the piece.

I'm using my author's profile to keep people up to date on when I'm going to add new chapters, how far I am, and so on, and what I plan next for the stories, so if you're ever curious, just go there, 'kay?

Which reminds me, I got a great review from someone recently…er…who was it…Sparrowhawk1! Sorry, I didn't Anglican and Anglo-Saxon were two different things, I'll keep that in mind if the Panthers captain shows up again…if being the key word here, though ^_^. Maybe he'll reappear just so I can correct the mistake.

And I'm glad someone finally caught on to the boring stereotypical alien monsters! Thank you, Sparrowhawk! Thank you for grilling me on that! I was wondering if anyone would notice the clichéd description…c'mon, you've gotta admit, that is SO Nadesico though. Even in the series, the first Lizards we saw were those insect critter things, and those are typical bad-guy aliens too. So don't worry those aren't the Unknowns…but I'm glad SOMEONE got the joke...geez…^_^

Anyways, thanks for reading if you've gotten this far, and please review! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! I need reviews! Arigato gozaimashda!

I swear that if I got a lot of reviews, I'll write a Ruri birthday chapter or something….hint hint hint (bribery bribery) ^_^


	8. Chapter Seven

UEC Space Fortress _Guardian_

"So, what is this space station capable of, Captain?" Admiral Harada asked crisply, as he walked along the newly polished steel floor of the UEC space fortress _Guardian_, built in just a week on one of Mars' two moons, Deimos.

"The station is currently operating at 80% of its full capacity," the commanding officer replied, "with sixty two separate heavy laser turrets, five entrenched gravity blast cannons, and one hundred and seventy-nine high-explosive missile silos. A reactor core has been built deep within the core of the moon, and twenty high-powered phase engines bolted onto one side to provide limited propulsion. In effect," the captain concluded, "we have here a semi-mobile artillery battery."

Harada nodded with satisfaction, as his boots clicked sharply against the steel plating of the hangar bay, passing several rows of battle-ready Aestivalis assault mechs. "Good," he replied. "We're going to need this fortress if we want to hold on to Mars."

There was a slight pause. "If you would excuse me, Admiral," the captain said with some hesitation, "but it has been over a week since the last time the Unknowns attacked. Isn't it possible that they have simply retreated?"

The Admiral shook his head. "Scouts have reported too much activity for them to be running away," he said gruffly. "They're just biding their time, building up their forces and replenishing their losses. They'll attack once they're ready. And we better be goddamn ready too, or else we'll all die."

Harada looked out observation windows towards the blackness of space. "It's the calm before the storm," he muttered quietly to himself. "And it's going to be one hell of a storm."

UEC Hospital on Mars

The nurse on duty at the reception desk glanced upward as soon as the shadow of a human figure fell across her paperwork; she already had an idea of who it was.

"You again?" she sighed, annoyed. "This is the fifth time in two days."

The girl she faced stayed silent. 

"Look," the nurse began, rubbing the sides of her temples with her fingertips, "the patient's status has changed at all. He's still out cold, in a coma. No beta readings at all, he's doing nothing but vegetate right now. All you going in there is gonna do is break your heart seeing him like that, trust me."

"May I have a pass to see the patient?" Ruri asked quietly.

"Captain, Tenkawa-san is still in the same— "

"I know," Ruri interrupted tersely. "If I must, I will pull rank on you."

The nurse threw her hands up in exasperation. "Fine, do what you will!" she shot back, scribbling some unintelligible words on a piece of paper. "If you ask me though, you're just wasting your time. Goddamn stuck-up captains," she muttered to herself as Ruri silently took the proffered slip of paper and left, "they think they can do whatever they want."

"Baka," Ruri murmured to herself as she glided smoothly down the hallway. Taking the elevator up to the third floor, she walked slowly past each of the open doorways, counting down the numbers until she reached room number two hundred and seventy-seven. This was his room.

Before entering, Ruri unconsciously smoothed her captain's blouse with her hands and adjusted her hair bands, pushing some stray strands of platinum back into place. Then, holding her breath, she crossed the threshold and entered the room, half of her feeling hope and the other abject despair.

The situation was the same as always: a lone figure, lying prone on the bed, covered up to his neck in pristine white sheets. A single IV tube ran from a bag of unmarked solution into his left forearm, the bag hanging off a sterile steel hanger. Some electrodes were connected to his temples and others were probably attached to his chest, judging from the wires that poked out from beneath the sheets and ran to a single machine that recorded and visually displayed his vital signs.

If one were to read the machines and study the graphs, one would say that Akito Tenkawa, cook, Aestivalis pilot, and most recently a prince of darkness, was a perfectly healthy human male who shouldn't be in the hospital right now. The only problem, though, was that Tenkawa's mind was completely cut off from the outside world.

Ruri slowly approached Tenkawa's still form, watching keenly for any movement at all that could signify his emergence from his coma. Seeing nothing, the young girl sighed with deep sadness, and pulled a chair from one of the corners of the room over next to the bed, dragging it along the floor and producing an ear-splitting screech that echoed down the hallway. Yet, for all the noise she had just made, Tenkawa-san stayed almost as stiff as a corpse; the only sign of life that he gave away was the slight rising and falling of his chest as he breathed. Ruri watched him with sorrowful eyes.

"Tenkawa-san? Can you hear me? It's Ruri," she said, watching for a reaction. Nothing. She hung her head in despair. _This is pointless, _her logic raged at herself. _You know the nurse is correct; Tenkawa-san will probably be in a coma for a very long time, if not for the rest of his life. Why do you even bother coming here?_

_Because_, she pleaded, _what if he does wake up? The possibility is always there! If he does wake up, I want to be there to welcome him back! I want to be here for him! It's the least I can do!_

_Excuses, excuses_, her inner mind sneered back, _all of those are pointless excuses driven by emotion; they hold no substance. You know very well that what you are doing is an exercise in futility! Why are you mentally hurting yourself with such thoughts? It bodes ill for you._

_I don't care!_ she mentally shouted.

_Don't be rash._

_I'm not being rash, I'm being human!_

_You're not human though, Ruri!_ her logic reprimanded her. _You're better than human! You are superior to any other human being in terms of intelligence, problem-solving, strategy, the fields of science and mathematics…you are above such trivial things as human emotion!_

_That's where you're wrong!_ Ruri thought ferociously, _As gifted as I may be in such things, humans are still social creatures. I require emotions to stay who I am! And that is why I'm staying here! I need my feelings!_

_You mean you need him?_

Ruri stopped as she contemplated the thought. _Yes, I need him_, she replied, remembering…

It was after the talent show, and all the participants were putting their costumes and props and other accessories away. As Yurika dashed from person to person, reveling in her victory, a lone Ruri sat on the bridge, still in her lacy blue and white dress, watching her with a sullen expression on her face, resting her chin against her hand.

_"What's the matter, Ruri-chan?" a voice asked from behind._

_Ruri straightened quickly in surprise, turning around and seeing him. "Nothing," she replied a bit hastily, pausing for a moment as she looked back at Yurika, who was laughing like a maniac. "I just feel…strange right now."_

_"Oh? How so?" he asked, plopping down into a seat next to her and resting his feet on top of  a console. A screen bleeped up in front of him: a stern reprimand from Omoikane about resting dirty shoes on top of spotless computer workstations._

_"It's just…I'm not sure if I should have declined the captain's position for being winner of the competition."_

_He was quiet for a second as he pondered that sentence. "Well, Ruri-chan," he began slowly, "what makes you think that?"_

_Ruri blushed a little; if she was too blunt, she might say something mean. "The captain's record hasn't been spectacular. She's gotten the _Nadesico_ and its crew into some tight spots before. Perhaps if I was the captain, with my greater judgment capacity, things would be easier and safer for us all…"Ruri trailed off._

Again, he was silent as he absorbed all that in. "That may be true, Ruri-chan," he replied, swiveling around to face her and putting his shoes on top of her console, inciting another warning bleep from Omoikane (this time, the screen said, "two strikes,") "but then why did you turn down the offer of the captain's chair?"

_This time it was Ruri's turn to be quiet for a moment as she pondered that question. "I suppose…it was the right thing to do," she answered quietly. "It would've been devastating to the captain if she had lost her position, she probably would've sunk into clinical depression, and that would've been bad for the morale of the crew," she concluded, trying to desperately put a nice logical spin on it so that it would be include more than just personal reasons for declining the captaincy._

_"Exactly, Ruri-chan, it was the not only the right thing, but it was the _kind_ thing to do," he stressed, in one of his few wise moments. "Deep down inside, Ruri, you're a kind person," he said, patting her on the head. "Just like me."_

_Ruri only nodded, as she felt her cheeks start to burn._

_"Oi! Hey, you! Get over here!" a brusque female voice called from above, and he looked up in annoyance. "Looks like I have to go," he said, "before she comes down to get me!" He stood up and smiled down at her. _

_"Oh, and by the way Ruri-chan…"_

_"Hai?"_

_"That's a really nice dress. You should keep it, wear it after the war's over or when we're on leave or something," he said over his shoulder, waving as he left the bridge. _

_Ruri felt herself go scarlet red as she pondered his words…_

"Deep down inside, I'm a kind person," Ruri said quietly. "And that is why I'm staying here with him. It's the kind thing to do."

There was no response from her logic.

On the bridge of the _Nadesico_

Haley-kun walked past the sliding doors and into the bridge of the _Nadesico_, making his way to his computer console near the center of the bridge. He stopped and blinked in surprise, seeing a certain male with long blonde hair pulling on the short green hair of a fellow Aestivalis pilot, and snickering when Ryoko belted Saburouta a nice uppercut to the jaw, sending him to the floor.

"Well, Saburouta-san, I didn't know you were well enough to get put back on duty, or to get beat up by Ryoko-san. Weren't you still in the hospital yesterday?"

"Yeah, I was, but those hospital admins are heartless, Haley-kun!" Saburouta complained from the floor. "They refused to let me stay any longer, despite the fact that I still have a broken heart from having my romantic overtures coldly refused by Ryoko!" At this, Ryoko merely turned her nose away from him and walked icily away.

Haley-kun laughed. "I guess she's getting used to you, Saburouta-san," he joked.

Saburouta grinned back. "Took her long enough. So," he said, getting back into business, "anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

"Not really," Haley-kun replied, heading to his console and activating the screen. "Omoikane, bring up the status records," he ordered. Immediately, a series of screens flashed across the bridge. "As you can see from Omoikane's records," Haley said, "the _Nadesico_ has been in repairs ever since we reached home. Damage turned out to be more extensive than we thought, with the gravity matrix crystal for the gravity blast cannon and the phase transition engine having to be completely replaced. They were both almost burned out."

Saburouta whistled softly. "Distortion fields must've taken a beating for that to happen." 

Haley-kun nodded in agreement. "So far, repairs are sixty percent completed. We should be battle-ready in another week."

"Well, that's just dandy. The longer we wait, the better. I really don't want to have to get back in there. Anything else happen?"

Haley-kun thought for a moment. "Actually, yes. There was a strange reading on the scanners about a day ago…where was it? Oh yeah, right here," Haley said, queuing up a map of the Martian surface and circling a particular area.

"Looks like there's nothing there but some old Martian ruins," Saburouta said, studying the map. "I thought all the ruins were excavated a year ago."

"Well, strange readings were coming out of this one. Some kind of unknown activity with an unidentifiable energy source."

"Gee, that sure says a lot," Saburouta observed sarcastically.

"Hey, I said it was strange, didn't I?" Haley-kun shot back. "Other than that, that's it."

"Hmm…I guess we might check that out later. Where's the captain?"

Haley-kun rolled his eyes dramatically. "She's seeing Tenkawa-san."

"Oh? What's so terrible about that?" Saburouta asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Nothing, except this is the fifth visit in two days. Don't you think she's going a bit overboard?" Haley-kun huffed, irritated.

"Hmmm….someone sounds a bit jealous if you ask me," Saburouta observed slyly, studying Haley closely. The young boy blushed deep red.

"Don't be ridiculous, Saburouta-san! I'm just…worried about her. It can't be good for her health to stay cooped up in that hospital twenty-four/seven, doing nothing but despair!" he replied heatedly.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Saburouta said, waving his hand nonchalantly. "I think you're just jealous that Ruri's spending all her time with Tenkawa-san instead of with you, like she usually does."

"Shut up, Saburouta-san!" Haley raged, swiveling away abruptly so his back was turned away from him.

Saburouta-san chuckled once to himself, and reached underneath his desk, pulling out the copy of _Ururun_ he had lifted from Ruri when she hadn't noticed and hidden underneath his workstation.

"So, what happened to this Tenkawa-san to land him in the hospital?"

UEC Space Fortress _Guardian_

"Is the data collected from the _Cowboy Johnny_ fully decrypted yet?" Harada asked the chief tech officer in the _Guardian_'s communications facility.

"Almost. We have about ninety percent of the data so far. It's rather fascinating," the tech replied, scanning over a thick sheaf of data records.

"Oh?" Harada's eyebrows perked upwards in curiosity. "And what's so fascinating about these records?"

"Well, the way the Unknowns use Boson particles is simply amazing," the scientist replied. "Instead of lengthening the period of the Boson waves like we've done in order to transport ourselves across time and space, they instead change the amplitude and not the wavelength, created something similar to a Watchins-Rusko effect that transforms the potential energy created by the Boson wave into—" 

"I don't want your damn scientific talking," Harada snapped, "Explain it to me so I actually understand what the hell you're talking about!"

"Er, yes sir," the technician replied somewhat shakily. "Basically, our forces lengthen the wavelength of the Boson particle to a more stable length that allows for safer teleportation of various objects. What the Unknowns have done instead, though, is change the amplitude, to the point where the Boson particles contain a lot more energy and are much more reactive, despite being in a somewhat stable form. This gives a concentrated stream of Boson particles immense destructive power…"

"And that's what they've been using against us," Harada concluded. "Any way to stop it?"

"These particles completely bypass all by the strongest distortion fields, and armor plating is quickly boiled away by the immense energy output of the Boson particles. The only defense is to stop the particles before they hit."

"CC missiles, then."

"That is correct."

"Any chance of the enemy developing a counter-measure?"

"Well…" the technician trailed off and began sorting through a giant box of worksheets. Harada sighed and rubbed his temples, thinking, _Geez, are all scientists this out-of-it?_

On the bridge of the _Nadesico_

"Tenkawa-san and Ruri were crewmates aboard the _Nadesico_?"

"Yeah…supposedly, Ruri had a bit of a crush on him during her tenure on the first _Nadesico_," Haley said a bit gloomily.

"Oh, really?" Saburouta snickered at the thought of a lovey-dovey Ruri. "Guess someone beat you to her heart, eh?"

Haley-kun's eyes flared red as he shouted, "Not funny, Saburouta-san!"

"So…do they know when Tenkawa's going to get out of the hospital?" the Jovian asked as soon as Haley's temper cooled down.

"The doctors don't know why he's in a coma…he really didn't suffer injuries traumatic enough for his mind to completely shut down like it did, or for so long thus far. They're not sure if he'll ever get out of it."

"Hmm…" Saburouta murmured with a serious look on his face. "Well, I guess Ruri will be visiting him at the hospital for a long time," he wisecracked with a small grin.

Suddenly, Haley stood up with a strange look on his face.

"Huh? What's up, Haley?" Saburouta asked, giving him a questioning look.

"I'm…worried about the captain. I'm going to go check up on her," Haley-kun said softly.

Saburouta sniggered once, a chuckle that soon became a groan as a coffee pot Haley-kun found conveniently nearby made physical contact with his skull. "Good luck," Saburouta wheezed in-between flashes of pain, as Haley stormed out of the room.

"Ah, the love of youth," Saburouta said wistfully to himself as he picked up his (Ruri's) volume of _Ururun_. "It's the best love of all."

UEC Space Fortress _Guardian_

"It seems that there is one way to circumvent the CC missiles that we constructed," the technician admitted rather timidly.

Harada swore under his breath. "Great, that's just what I wanted to hear," he remarked savagely. "What can they do?"

"The boson particles react with the chulip crystals because they have a certain wavelength that allows enough activation energy for the particles to react without needing a catalyst…"

"Okay, I think I got that."

"By changing the wavelength to one even longer than the wavelength we use, while still keeping the amplitude relatively small, the Unknowns can theoretically bypass our crystals."

"What do you mean by 'theoretically?'" Harada asked, somewhat confused.

"Well," the technician adjusted his glasses as he rapidly skimmed through the data sheets in front of him, "it's theoretically possible to shorten the amplitude while lengthening the wavelength; it can be done on paper with pencil and a good calculator. However," he said, pausing for emphasis, "in a real-life situation, keeping the particle stable while simultaneously lowering its kinetic energy and keeping its potential energy the same is virtually impossible. To do so would require very special conditions that would be beyond our scientific capabilities to emulate."

"Our scientific capabilities? What about theirs?" the admiral demanded.

"Well, judging by the complexity of their weapons and vessels, we can conclude that their technology isn't so far advanced compared to ours to make this sort of ability even remotely possible," the technician replied. "At least, not advanced enough to make a safe, reliable version of their weapons. They could do it by jury-rigging some of their systems, but the possibility of a catastrophic energy overload would be too great to make the system useful or cost-effective."

In Saburouta-san's mind

_Tori-san entered the hospital, making his way straight to the nurse's desk. The nurse, a pretty young blonde, looked up and smiled. "How may I help you?" she asked._

_"I'm here to see Hibya Kotone," Tori-san replied._

_"Ah, yes, Kotone-chan…she's in room four-four-one. Visiting hours are from noon to four, so you're right on time. Elevators are down that hallway, to the right," the nurse said, pointing._

_"Thank you." Tori-san went up in the elevator to the fourth floor, clutching a bouquet of flowers tightly in his hands, nervous._

_The doors opened slowly, and Tori-san peeked out, looking down each side of the hallway. No one was in the corridor. Tip-toeing out, Tori-san quietly made his way to his destination room, four-four-one, whose door was unlocked and ajar. Sunlight from a window in the room filtered into the hallway._

_Taking a deep breath, Tori-san put on a happy face and walked in. "Kotone-chan!" he shouted jovially. "How are you doing?"_

_In the bed, a lone girl, young and strikingly beautiful, with flowing purple hair that arched down her back and pooled into iridescent puddles around her turned her head in surprise and joy. Some bandages were wrapped around her head and a single tube ran into her left forearm, but otherwise, she seemed perfectly healthy. "Tori-san! I can't believe you actually visited me!" she exclaimed, ecstatic._

_"These are for you," Tori-san said, extending his bouquet._

_"Wow! They're beautiful! How'd you know roses were my favorite?"_

_"I guessed," Tori-san replied, thinking, _Heck, every girl likes roses!

"They're so pretty…they'll make this room look much nicer now, if I put them in a vase or something," Kotone-chan remarked, smiling.

"The doctors say you're doing pretty well," Tori-san remarked, grinning. "They say you'll be out of this place in a day or so."

"Really?" Kotone-chan giggled with delight. "I can't wait!"

"Neither can I," Tori-san replied, smirking. "Once they discharge you from the hospital, how about we go out to celebrate? Go somewhere downtown?"

"Oh, that would be wonderful, Tori-san!" Kotone exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. "I would love to!"

"It's a date then?"

"It's a date!"

"Hmm…this Tori-san is a smooth-talker all right," Saburouta observed, flipping through the pages of the latest Ururun issue he had pilfered from Ruri's room. "Though he seems awfully innocent for a guy who has so many girls after him…," Saburouta reclined in his chair, resting his boots on the console. A warning sign popped up from Omoikane, reading, "Don't rest dirty boots on a spotless computer console."

Saburouta raised one of his eyebrows. "What's going to stop me?" he challenged.

Another sign popped up: "The last guy who did it regretted it."

The Jovian lieutenant made a face. "Can't believe I'm taking orders from a computer," he grumbled, putting his boots back down and opening the manga again. Skimming through it, he muttered, "A date downtown, eh? I think that's a stupid idea."

UEC Space Fortress Guardian

"Does that matter to the Unknowns though?" Harada demanded. "There seem to be unlimited numbers of the little bastards. If there were enough of them, could they bypass the chulip crystals?"

"Well, the laws of probability state that yes they could…but it would require a tremendous amount of enemy ships, and that would take time and resources."

"Yes, both of which they have. They have Jupiter and the entire Jovian infrastructure, and that have us on the run," Harada remarked acidly. "They can take as long as they want, couldn't they?"

The technician was silent. Harada scowled in displeasure.

"So, what other alternatives are there?" he asked sharply.

UEC Hospital on Mars

Haley cautiously poked his head through the door, seeing Ruri in her chair next to Tenkawa's bed.

"Captain?" he whispered softly. The young girl didn't respond, and Haley tiptoed over next to her, examining her closely.

Ruri was fast asleep, her head cradled in her arms, which were resting on the cold metal rail of the hospital bed. Haley-kun nudged her, and the girl stirred, groaning quietly.

"Captain? Wake up!" Haley-kun urged.

Finally, Ruri's eyes opened and groggily focused themselves on Haley. "Haley-kun?" she whispered, her eyes squinting, "what are you doing here?" 

"Making sure you were okay, Captain…you've been here every spare minute you've got," Haley remarked, grabbing another seat and dragging it over next to Ruri. Ruri winced as the chair scraped noisily against the floor. "By the looks of it, it seems a good idea that I came. You look terrible, Captain."

"I've been here…for a while."

"How long?"

"Since noon."

Haley nearly fell out of his chair. "Captain! That's nearly three hours! You've been sitting here this whole time?" he shouted.

Ruri put a slender white finger on his lips. "I thought he needed the company. He's been isolated from humanity for at least a year. And it would be nice if you were a little quieter, Haley-kun," she remarked coolly.

The young boy gave her a look before settling down into his chair. The two teenagers sat in silence for a while, the boy glancing at the captain from time to time, before he finally asked, "Captain…what's Tenkawa-san like?"

Ruri pondered the question for a second. "Tenkawa-san is…different from me. He is similar to you in that he is driven by emotion, whereas I am driven by logic. But he was kind and caring, and even wise in certain situations," she allowed with a hint of a smile. "Tenkawa-san helped me in my first quest for identity aboard the Nadesico."

"Is that it?"

"Tenkawa-san was…fun to be around," Ruri admitted.

Haley-kun pouted. "Even when he's in a coma, he's more fun to be around than me?"

This time Ruri gave a gratifying smile, and shook her head. "I suppose in this case, being as unresponsive as he is, Tenkawa-san has been rather boring. Considering I fell asleep for an hour or so," she remarked, glancing at her watch.

"Yeah…," Haley-kun trailed off, looking at Ruri in surprise as her stomach growled loudly in the otherwise quiet room. "Captain, when was the last time you ate?"

"I haven't had lunch yet…" Ruri admitted rather sheepishly.

"Captain! That's what I mean when I said I was making sure you're okay!" Haley protested hotly. "No lunch yet? It's three o'clock! You're going to eat, now!" he announced, pulling Ruri up out of her chair by her hand.

"But Haley-kun…" she protested, trying to tug her hand free.

"No ifs, ands, or buts about it, Captain! I know this really good restaurant downtown that's really cheap too! We're getting you some food to eat!" Haley told her sternly, keeping an iron grip on her hand.

Ruri relented, letting Haley march her down the hall, past the surprised nurse at the front desk ("Wow, she's leaving early," she remarked) and out the door into a beautiful blue day with a shining golden sun.

Suddenly, Ruri paused, and Haley looked at her, puzzled. "What's the matter, Captain? Did you forget something in the hospital?"

"No…" Ruri answered as she thought. "Haley-kun…you're not taking me out on a date, are you?" she asked. He's the one asking…taking me to a restaurant…presumably buying, also, based on my resources…it seems to fit the criteria.

Haley turned red and looked away hastily. "Of course not, Captain! I'm not making you go eat with me unless—"

"Eat with you?"

"I mean," Haley stammered, turning even more red, "eat at all, unless you really want to…" he trailed off, looking a bit hopeful.

Ruri studied his face closely. "So it is a date?"

Haley threw up his hands, exasperated. "Well, I hadn't planned it like that at all, I swear! I suppose you could call it a date if you really want to…well?" he asked pointedly. "Are you going to go or not?"

Ruri thought a bit, recalling the Ururun manga volume she had read a few weeks ago, but lately hadn't been able to find. What is it the girl did in this situation? Suddenly, her eyes brightened and she gave a bit of a mischievous smile. Taking his arm, the strikingly beautiful young girl pushed a strand of platinum hair back into place and said, with a smile to the shocked boy, "I'd love to, Haley-kun."

On the bridge of the Nadesico

"I don't understand how he always gets the girls so wishy-washy," Saburouta complained. "I mean, how corny is that? Take the girl to the downtown restaurant that happens to be the most romantic spot in town? Give me a break!" he muttered, tossing the manga volume on top of his console. "This manga was pretty good in the beginning, but I think it's degenerating into a pointless and corny romance."

"I think you're the only one that thinks that way," a voice observed crossly, and Saburouta swiveled around in his chair to see Ryoko leaning against the captain's chair, eyeing him with irritation.

"What?" the Jovian asked innocently.

"Honestly, don't you understand anything about women?" Ryoko asked, exasperated. "They like these 'corny' things of yours: romantic downtown outings, eating at a nice restaurant, mushy mangas full of romantic comedy…haven't you realized that yet?"

"Er, no," he replied, looking genuinely surprised.

Ryoko ran a hand over her face. "Geez, I think you're hopeless, Saburouta-san," she muttered. 

"Wait, so you're saying even you like these kinds of things?" Saburouta asked somewhat skeptically.

"Well, not all of them," Ryoko allowed, "but most of them, yeah."

"Wow. And here I thought you were more cultivated than that."

"Hey! Better watch what you're saying there, buddy!" Ryoko warned, waving a fist in the air.

"Yeah, yeah, calm down! I was just kidding!" Saburouta said from behind his chair. 

"Hmph!" was Ryoko's only reply as she turned away from him to leave.

"So, Ryoko," he began, emerging from behind his chair as soon as he thought it was safe, "what's going on right now?"

"Oh, nothing in particular," she said nonchalantly.

"Eaten lunch yet?"

"Nope, not yet,"

"Awesome, neither have I. Let's go get a bite to eat!"

"Where?" Ryoko asked, turning around and staring pointedly at him with eyebrows raised.

Saburouta's mind worked feverishly. "Um…downtown?" he asked cautiously.

Ryoko smiled and nodded. "Quick learner, I see. All right!" she pumped a fist enthusiastically. "Let's go eat!"

Saburouta shook his head as he followed her out past the sliding doors. Why do I have the feeling she's using me to get free food?

"Oh, and by the way, you're paying, right, Saburouta-san?"

Damnit.

A/N I wasn't seeing the whole chapter when I uploaded it, so I divided it. The next "chapter" is actually part B, okay?


	9. Chapter Seven Part Two

UEC Space Fortress Guardian

"So, what are our options?" Harada asked again after watching the technician read his technical manuals for fifteen minutes. "Do we have any?"

"Well…no, we don't."

"That wasn't the answer I was expecting," Harada growled, his eyes narrowed.

"Well, that is…well, sir, you can always pour an excessive amount of firepower into the enemy fleet. After all, that is what Guardian was designed for.  You know what they say: explosives are the solution to everything…" the technician laughed nervously.

Harada eyed him for a second before relaxing his steely gaze. "That's correct, young man, and that applies to them as well as to us. Where is the greatest concentration of the fleet?"

"Why, right around the Guardian, sir."

"Good. I want you to send out a FLASH-priority message after you're done decrypting the rest of the data disks. When the enemy attacks, they'll attack us here and aim for a knock-out blow."

"But why, sir?"

"Because," Harada answered as he left the room, "explosives are the answer to everything." Or should I say explosions?

Outside, on Mars

A light breeze rippled through the warm afternoon air as Haley and Ruri walked through the open streets towards a mysterious restaurant of Haley's choosing. It was a perfect day for an outdoor stroll; the wind made the ambient air temperature just right for the skin, and the sun, while not out in full force, illuminated the landscape with a heart-warming light that didn't sting or hurt the eyes. As the two walked past various open stores and small eateries, Haley noticed adults smiling and whispering to each other, "What a cute couple!" He blushed a little, thinking, I wasn't planning on this…

The two young teenagers walked past a clothing store that had the latest spring fashions on display and both of them stopped to admire the beautiful clothing on the mannequins. Ruri seemed particularly enamored with a mannequin that showed off an exquisite, sleeveless, sky-blue spring dress.

"Do you like that dress, Captain?" Haley asked, watching her.

Ruri nodded absent-mindedly, thinking, that's the same dress in my dream!

Haley glanced at the price-tag and took a sharp breath. "It's pretty expensive for a piece of cloth," he grumbled, pointing out the price.

Despite that, Ruri took Haley's arm and dragged him into the store. "I should stock up on non-military clothing for when I leave the service," she explained.

Haley sighed, shaking his head. "I never took you to be the shopping type, Captain," he remarked.

Fifteen minutes later, Haley and Ruri emerged from the store, Ruri in her new dress, and Haley in a smart-looking windbreaker and new pants that Ruri had picked out for him. Ruri poked him teasingly in the shoulder.

"Haley-kun, admit it. That was fun, wasn't it?" she demanded.

 The boy gave her a strange look. You're acting livelier than usual today. "I suppose so," he grudgingly agreed. "These are better than the UE Spacey uniforms, but these clothes were expensive! No more new video games for me for the next couple of paychecks," he sighed sadly.

To his surprise, Ruri made a face. "Haley-kun, you need to grow up."

"You think so?" The thought that he might be immature for his age disturbed him greatly.

"Perhaps. You need to perfect your social abilities. I should lend you my resources more often," she offered.

At this, Haley's eyes lighted up. "Really? You're talking about your Ururun manga, right?" Ruri nodded. "All right!" Haley-kun pumped a fist victoriously in the air. "I've always wanted to read the rest of the series!"

Ruri's laughter drifted melodiously through the air, superior to even the songs of the birds singing in the trees.

Haley-kun grinned sheepishly as Ruri took his arm again and the two continued their walk down the street. Heck, he thought, if she's going to be like this more often, I could get used to this…she's really pretty in that dress.

"Is this the restaurant?" Ruri asked, jolting Haley from his reverie.

"What's that?" he asked, looking around.

"Is this the restaurant that you were talking about?"

"Oh. Um…" Haley looked the place over. It was an Asian establishment, advertising a combination of Japanese and Korean cuisine.

"Yeah, this is it," Haley confirmed, after matching the address with the one Saburouta had told him about. "I hear they serve really good noodles!"

"Noodles? Really?"

"What? You like noodles, Captain?"

"They're edible, if that's what you mean."

Haley laughed as they entered. "Very funny, Captain."

Ruri leaned over so she could whisper into his ear. "Maybe you shouldn't call me Captain, Haley-kun. We're not in a formal military setting." They don't call each other Captain in my resources, at least.

"What?" Haley exclaimed in consternation. "But I always –"

"How may I help you?" the waiter at the front of the restaurant asked, interrupting him.

"Table for two, please," Ruri said to the waiter before Haley had a chance to finish.

"Of course," the waiter replied, beaming and grabbing two menus. "This way, please."

"Hurry up, Haley-kun," Ruri admonished, tugging on his arm. "We need to go sit down."

"…oh, yeah, of course, cap-…I mean…Ruri." Geez, that feels really weird. Actually, it's kinda difficult to say her name. Maybe I should practice. Ruri. Rur…i? Ru-ri. R-uri. 

"Haley-kun, what are you doing?" Ruri asked sharply as Haley ran straight into a wall.

"Sorry, didn't see where I was going," he replied from the floor, blushing in shame. Haley, you're an idiot.

Elsewhere, on Mars

"So, where is this place you were talking about?" Ryoko asked Saburouta.

"Oh, it's this jewel of a restaurant I found when I was on leave here a few months ago," the Jovian replied, waving his hand nonchalantly in the air. "It's a combination restaurant of Japanese and Korean food. The chef's a friend of mine; trust me, he's good. I've got a way of finding all the good eats in town."

"Oh, really?" Ryoko chuckled. "I guess I should hang around you more often."

"Honestly now, Ryoko," Saburouta said, his eyes tearing up with all the acting ability he could muster, "how do you think it makes me feel to be so blatantly used in such a callous way? It's heart-rending!"

"Oh be quiet," Ryoko snapped back, grinning nevertheless. "I know you. You wanted to take me out to lunch!"

"I said no such thing!" Saburouta replied defensively. "I'm doing this only because I know you'll drop-kick me half-way to Earth if I don't!"

In the restaurant

"So, what's good here?" Ruri asked as she opened the menu.

Haley shrugged. "No idea. Never been here before."

"And yet you claim this restaurant was a good one…" Ruri observed with some skepticism.

"Well, Saburouta-san told me about this place. I'm sure he's as good a judge of food as anyone else."

Ruri raised an eyebrow at him, something Haley did not know Ruri could do. "Haley-kun, this is Saburouta-san we're talking about."

"Heh heh, you've got a point there, Captain."

"Ruri."

"Oh yeah, sorry. Ruri." Haley frowned. "Feels strange for me to say that."

"Does it?"

Elsewhere on Mars

"Oh, is this the place?" Ryoko said. "I think I've been here before!"

"No way!" Saburouta said. "Only I know about this little gem of a restaurant!"

"They've got good sake," Ryoko explained. "C'mon, let's go inside and eat! I'm starved!"

In the restaurant

"Speaking of Saburouta-san, is he out of the hospital yet?" Ruri asked. "I haven't been at the Nadesico for a while."

"He's been back for a while I think. I guess his injuries weren't that severe," Haley-kun replied, thinking, You're right. You haven't been around the last couple days. Were you with Tenkawa-san this whole time? "Ruri?" he asked, remembering to use her name instead of her rank.

"Hai?"

"Why do you spend so much time with Tenkawa-san? Is there…something special about him?" he asked, almost unwillingly. I shouldn't be asking a question like that.

Ruri looked at him in surprise, then looked down at the floor. "Well…" she said softly.

"Well! If it isn't the captain and…Haley-kun of all people!" a loud voice suddenly boomed from near the restaurant's entrance. Haley-kun looked up in alarm and…sure enough, it was Saburouta-san, with Ryoko nearby, hiding her laughs behind a concealing hand.

"Haley-kun, I didn't know you could be so forward! Taking the captain on a date, eh?" Saburouta bellowed jovially, pushing his way to their table and elbowing Haley painfully in the ribs.

"Saburouta-san! Cut that out!" the hapless boy protested. "I'm not taking her on a date! She just needed something to eat! Isn't that right, Ruri?

"Oh, on a first name basis already, are we?" Saburouta observed with a sly grin. Haley-kun reddened. "So, Captain," Saburouta began, turning towards Ruri, "has this young man been a gentleman so far?"

Ruri nodded in agreement, smiling a little bit.

"Good work, Haley!" Saburouta said, clapping the boy heartily on the back. "I knew you'd pick something up from me!"

"Based on the way you're behaving," Ryoko observed, "Haley would be a caveman by now if he started picking stuff up from you."

"Hey, that was uncalled for," Saburouta protested, pulling up a chair. "Well, captain, Haley, you wouldn't mind if the two of us joined, would you? You could call it a double date," he said, winking at Ryoko and nudging Haley in the ribs.

UEC Space Fortress Guardian

"Sir, FLASH transmission from Earth," one of Harada's aides reported.

"Okay, transmit it to my personal office," Harada replied, swiveling around in his personal office chair to see the transmission screen. As it turned on, Harada smiled. "Kouichiro-san! How are you!" he boomed out in his gravelly voice.

The image of Grand Admiral Misumaru Kouichiro appeared on the screen. "Fine, thank you," he said solemnly. "How goes the fight for Mars!"

"A bloody stalemate, friend," Harada replied. "But for now we've beaten the bastards back. How's your daughter?"

Kouichiro coughed, looking uncomfortable. "That's the reason why I called, Harada. She's coming to Mars."

Harada nearly dropped the coffee mug he had in his hand. "But this is a war zone! This is no place for someone in her cond—"

The Grand Admiral raised up a hand to silence Harada. "She insisted, and you know how she is once she has her mind made up. She's onboard the hospital ship in the reinforcement fleet coming your way. She'll be there in three hours."

Suddenly, another screen appeared next to Kouichiro's, and Harada noticed the Grand Admiral look in surprise off-screen. Apparently, he was getting the same screen too. While the picture cleared up, Harada could hear a female voice saying, somewhat weakly, "Daddy, did you get permission from Admiral Harada yet?"

"Yes, my daughter," Kouichiro said quickly, "and you shouldn't be on the communications channel right—"

"It's okay, daddy, I made the nurse open up this comm channel."

"Yurika-chan, is that you?" Harada asked, remembering the hyper-active girl of five years when he was serving under then-Commodore Misumaru Kouichiro.

"Hi, Harada," the voice said, still feeble. "It's been a long time since I've last seen you." Finally, the picture cleared up, and Harada felt his face go pale.

The once-beautiful Misumaru Yurika had now shriveled up to a shell of her former self. She had lost a horrific amount of weight, her body appearing almost skeletal under the hospital bed sheets. Her hair, once a shining wave of eye-catching blue, was thin, stringy, and now a dull pale gray-blue; a shadow of its former self. Her face was emaciated, her eyes sunken in their eye sockets. Her once-flawless skin seemed gray and worn, and she breathed with the help of a ventilator, the cold individuality-robbing mask hiding what little of a smile she could force from her lips. Several tubes snaked around her, inserting themselves into various places on her arms.

Harada's coffee mug crashed to the floor, shattering into a thousand pieces, the coffee slowly spilling out onto the hardwood like viscous blood. Misumaru Yurika was dying.

A/N: Yay! Finally, I finished a chapter! That took me SUCH A LONG TIME! This is one of my favorite chapters, I must admit. No fighting at all, so sorry to you battle buffs, but I needed to cement the relationships going on here. So…what do we have…Akito/Ruri, Ruri/Haley, and Saburouta/Ryoko. I'm going to be vacillating between the Akito/Ruri pair and the Ruri/Haley pair throughout the story, though in the end there will be only one couple! You'll just have to find out who they are.

Sorry about the faulty science with the Boson particles. I just threw in some fancy physics terms and hoped it would make sense. If any of you understand what Boson particles do (if I recall, they do exist, but they don't work the way they do in the TV show) and stuff like wavelength and amplitude and can explain it, I don't mind changing it so it's more realistic.

I worked with more flashbacks since you guys liked that a lot, and I also incorporated some of the Ururun manga. Media like that was instrumental in the series; you had Gekigangar in the series, and the movie had its basis in the Ururun manga, though I'll be using the manga the way I did this chapter; as a foreshadowing of future events. I kind of like it; adds a new twist and dimension to an otherwise 2-D story. Of course, if you guys think it totally ruined the thing, tell me and I won't do it. I'm experimenting with different styles and techniques, and I want to know which ones to keep and which ones to chuck.

Of course, that means that YOU guys have to REVIEW! Otherwise I'll be sad and I won't have any constructive criticism to work off of.

Oh, and how do you guys like the ending? Scary, huh? Told ya you'd see Yurika! More will be explained next chapter…maybe. Heh heh heh. This chapter I think is the "calm before the storm," as Harada put it. And oh, what a storm it'll be…(shameless advertising) Oh, and I'm trying to see how I'm going to put in a Ruri birthday chapter in here somewhere…might be kinda difficult though.

Anyways, read and review please, and thank you for all the reviews I've gotten already! Looking forward to posting the next chapter!

This is the second version, since people kindly told me that I had none of the spaces between scenes that I usually have. Weird thing is, I have at least three of those enter tab spaces between each paragraph, but FanFiction won't pick it up, so it looks like one giant scene. Strange. So, I've put in little dividers that states the location, and, while VERY corny, I hope it remedies the situation a bit.

And yes, Yurika is dying for a reason. That's next chapter so don't crucify me yet!


	10. Chapter Eight

_The Conscience hath been awakened._

_What news bringeth thou of the war?_

_Progress hath been made, but losses are most severe._

_Hast thou seen the Gifted?_

_Two are present at the Destination._

_Ah, yes. The Conscience sees them both. Where art the third?_

_En route. It is well protected, but well within Thy omniscient eye._

_Thou hast done well. The third can be seen._

_Will this alter the scenario?_

_Nothing can alter the scenario of thy Conscience._

_What shalt be done?_

_Be off, and bring them to thy Conscience, whether they art deceased, or living._

_It shalt be done._

_-------------------_

"Hey, Haley, this is really good! You sure you're not hungry?" Saburouta asked, while shoveling food down his throat.

Haley gave the Jovian a dirty look, muttering, "I'm not feeling that hungry. Honestly," he whispered to Ruri, "how can anyone have an appetite after seeing the way he eats?"

"Oi, I heard that, Haley," Saburouta growled dangerously.

Before Haley could respond, a sudden beeping noise chirped from his wrist communicator. Haley looked down at it before raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"What is it?" Ruri asked softly, putting down her ramen bowl.

"It's from Omoikane," Haley replied, pushing some buttons on the communicator. "Before I left to check up on you, I asked it to run some more scans on the surface to see if it would pick up those strange readings I got earlier."

"Strange readings?"

"Yeah, large amount of some kind of alien energy source out there. It appeared briefly before disappearing a few days ago. Ever since, Omoikane's detected traces of it here and there."

"What has Omoikane picked up now?"

Haley furrowed his brow. "Another spike in those strange energy readings, and in the same exact spot."

"Those ruins that we looked at via satellite?" Saburouta asked around large amounts of rice.

Haley gave him a disgusted look, and received only a rice-dripping grin in reply. "Yes, the same ruins."

"What ruins are these?" Ryoko piped up, a little red in the face from the sake she had been imbibing.

"Why, ruins of romance, of course," Saburouta said slyly, giving Ryoko a once-over. "There's a legend that says if a couple go there and make vows of love…"

Ryoko gave him a bop on the back of his head. "Don't play games with me," she said testily. "What are these ruins?"

"Ruins of an ancient civilization we have no knowledge about," Ruri answered quietly, with a far-away look in her eyes. "The same civilization where the phase transition engine and gravity blast cannon were discovered. The same place where…"

"The boson black box was found, right?" Ryoko asked with narrowed eyes.

"Yes. The Martian ruin composed entirely of chulip crystals."

"Well, this sounds interesting!" Saburouta said heartily, somewhat unnerved by the solemnity of Ryoko's and Ruri's voices. "Why don't we go check it out?"

"Don't be so hasty," Haley snapped. "We don't know what's there, it could be booby-trapped or something! And wipe your mouth, that's disgusting," he scolded, gesturing at the trickle of soy sauce that was running down Saburouta's chin.

The Jovian quickly mopped it away with the sleeve of Haley's shirt, eliciting an icy glare. "Don't be such a chicken, Haley!" he admonished, "we should check it out! Don't you agree, Captain?"

Ruri looked at them both, thinking. "Yes," she said slowly after a while. "Yes, we should."

-------------------------------------------------------------

_Two of the Gifted approach swiftly._

_Yes, the Conscience can see them._

_For the Conscience is all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful._

_What of the third?_

_The third will soon be within our reach._

_And the preparations?_

_They proceed smoothly. All will be well._

_Move quickly._

_Yes._

_Rapidity is the essence of war; take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness, make thy way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots._

_Preparations will commence when the third is in our reach._

_That will leave the Destination weak?_

_Yes._

_Go and do as thou hast planned._

_Victory hath been given to the Conscience._

_-----------------------------------------------------------------------_

"Grand Admiral, I don't like this idea at all," Harada said forcefully, eyeing Kouichiro's screen. "In her condition, travel like that can kill her. And in an environment as stressful as a war zone, she wouldn't stand a chance in hell of living. Either she'd go into shock and stop breathing, or her ship'll get blown to shreds!"

"You think I don't know that?" the Grand Admiral sighed heavily, his voice sad as he pulled at his mustache. "You know how my dear Yurika is once she has her mind made up. Even in her condition, there's no stopping her."

"True…" Harada trailed off, biting his lip. "When did it get so bad?" he asked softly.

"Just a few weeks ago, it started to really escalate," Kouichiro replied forlornly. "Ever since the Martian Successor incident…"

---------------------------------------------------------------------

"Are we almost there yet?" Haley asked tiredly. They'd all been crammed in Saburouta's Aestivalis for almost forty-five minutes, and his legs were starting to fall asleep. "This isn't exactly the most comfortable position on Mars, you know."

"Oh, quit you're whining, kid," Ryoko admonished. "It could be far worse."

"Like what?"

"Like…the Unknowns could be attacking us right now. That would really suck."

"I suppose," Haley admitted grudgingly. "But what are the odds of that, huh? They'd have to get through the fleets in orbit, then the orbital platforms, and then the planetary defense systems. There's no way they can punch through all that in one day!"

"Don't say things like that," Saburouta said behind his back.

"Why not?" Haley and Ryoko demanded.

"Because, it just might happen," Saburouta said, winking.

"We probably have another twenty minutes, Haley-kun," Ruri said from next to Saburouta. "Do you want to switch spots? You seem rather cramped back there."

"No, I can probably survive," Haley-kun replied gallantly.

"Wait, Captain, you read the timer wrong," Saburouta pointed out with sadistic mirth. "It says two hundred minutes!"

"What?!"

--------------------------------------------------------------

"She was illegally experimented on, wasn't she?" Harada asked.

"Yes, they used her to boson jump their forces from location to location. Ruri-kun said that they actually fused her body with the boson crystals," the Grand Admiral answered, rubbing his temples.

"Fused with her body…the after-effects of that…"

"Yes. The boson radiation every time the crystals were activated heavily damaged her body. There's actually still pieces of boson crystal in her, slowly decaying, slowly poisoning her, slowly killing her."

"That's why she's like that?"

"I suppose you could call it 'boson poisoning'," Kouichiro murmured heavily. "The stress of long-distance boson jumps of many men and machines took its toll on her. And with boson particles eating away at her every day…"

"How long does she have?"

The Grand Admiral gazed out the vidscreen, his eyes unfocused and far away as he contemplated the question.

"Not long."

------------------------------------------------------

_The third has been detected._

_Near the Destination?_

_Yes. But she is well-protected. A reinforcement fleet, they say._

_That is good. The preparations will fulfill two objectives at once._

_And the third?_

_It will be fulfilled when the third has been taken._

_What of the Restrainer?_

_Incapacitated, for now._

_The Restrainer will not awaken?_

_It is doubtful._

_Shall we send the preparations?_

_Yes. Victory belongs to the Conscience._

_---------------------------------------------------------------------_

Approximately half an hour from Mars was the reinforcement fleet for the UEC forces orbiting the Red Planet. It was a mighty 200-ship reinforcement group from UE Spacey that constituted almost forty percent of its total strength.

At the center of this formation was a lone hospital ship, the _Harbinger_. There lay the desiccated husk of Misumaru Yurika, dying slowly and painfully from boson radiation poisoning, on her last journey to visit her home planet of both herself and her loved one.

"Status report?" the captain of the _Harbinger_ asked on the quiet deck of the ship. Nothing but the hum of computers and the glow of screens disturbed the silently alert atmosphere.

"Nothing sir; communications reports contact with UEC forces at Mars. We should be in visual contact within twenty minutes."

"Nothing unusual?" the captain asked, slightly perplexed that nothing had tried to intercept the fleet thus far.

As if in response to his unspoken thoughts, computers monitoring scanner readouts started to go berserk, registering an undeniably high amount of boson radiation.

A strike force of Unknown ships, gleaming organic silver in the sparse sunlight that managed to reach this far in space, materialized around the UE Spacey fleet, neatly surrounding it in a circle, converging upon the hapless vessels from all corners of the compass. Almost simultaneously, a volley of molten-yellow bolts of plasma issued forth, crashing into several ships and ripping apart distortion fields, armor plating, and crewmembers. Swarms of silver-plated mechas billowed into space, like spores from a fungal colony.

The quiet of space was quickly shattered by alarm klaxons and eradicated by flashing red and yellow lights, yet the once-beautiful Yurika lay near-comatose on the bed, oblivious to both the horrendous noise and the flashing colors.

_Harbinger's_ captain watched in shock as several battleships quickly succumbed to the furious opening volley. Regaining his composure, he waved frantically to the communications officer on deck and yelled, "Tighten the formation around the _Harbinger! _We have to protect our charge at all costs! Send a priority distress message to Mars! We need help!"

As the communications officer quickly typed and relayed the message with the speed of a trained professional, the battleships of the UEC rallied around the _Harbinger_, protecting her bodily with their own steel hulls. Aestivalis mechs dropped out of the hangars and laid down withering covering fire against the silver mechs; space lit up in a series of small fireballs around the battleships, resembling a swarm of short-lived fireflies that quickly faded into the darkness of space. The heavy guns opened fire, and several gravity blasts tore through the Unknown fleets, exploding squadrons of ships at a time, but as was the norm, the Unknowns had developed an enormous numerical superiority in their favor, and used it to the utmost advantage, relying on sheer mass to converge on a trapped and helpless foe.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Admiral! An emergency!"

"I'll get back to you later, Grand Admiral," Harada said quickly, shutting off the video feed before Kouichiro had a chance to respond. "What is it?" he barked harshly.

"The UE Spacey reinforcement fleet has fallen under attack!"

"What?! Where are they!"

"Half-an-hour away, sir! They request immediate aid! They're completely surrounded!"

"Shit!" Harada swore, thinking, _If they get to Yurika, Kouichiro will never forgive me! Hell, I'll never forgive myself! _"Get me Admiral Hong! I want his forces to smash through that fleet like it was a sheet of paper! Get him there! Now!"

"Hai!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Is this it?"

"I think so!" Saburouta proclaimed proudly, opening the Aestivalis hatch.

"Doesn't look like much," Ryoko observed dubiously. "Are you sure you read the map right?"

"Hey, I may be silly sometimes, but it doesn't mean I'm stupid!" Saburouta replied heatedly.

"Baka," Ruri murmured softly to Haley, who giggled.

Saburouta eyed the so-called "ruins."

"Doesn't look like much, does it?" he observed grudgingly after a while.

"It's just a cave!" Ryoko said exasperated, flinging her arms in the air. "What good is a cave?"

"Perhaps we should go into the cave," Ruri replied logically.

"That seems like a good idea!" Haley-kun piped up, as the four made their way in.

"Well, it's a cave all right…it's even got the stalactites and stalagmites," Saburouta said, gesturing at the rock formations. "Can you pick up any electronics?" he asked Haley a little dubiously. The cave was about four feet wide and seven feet tall at the entrance, opening out into a larger pitch-black cavern that could be estimated at around twenty feet wide and disappeared into the blackness of the subterranean.

"I'm having Omoikane run a scan right now…" Haley trailed off, before pointing to a nearby vague outcropping of rock. "Just beyond there, there should be something…"

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Half-an-hour into the fighting, the UE Spacey fleet had already been broken down into a bare force of just one hundred and twenty ships. What little battle-worthy vessels remained continued to surround the _Harbinger_, in a last-ditch effort to protect the hospital ship. More gravity blasts spurted out, but as the seconds ticked by they became fewer and fewer as more ships fell to Unknown weaponry.

Just as all seemed lost, though, a veritable wall of explosive energy slammed into the fleet, annihilating an entire wave of Unknown ships. The armored fist that had saved Mars in the first battle had arrived: Admiral Hong's UEC 21st Fleet.

"Sensors report lock-on. Alpha strike, ready!"

"Open fire!" Admiral Hong commanded in a strong voice. Another lance of energy went on, and a series of explosions lit the horizon as gravity blasts seared through Unknown ships and tore them apart into fiery balls of flame.

"Launch the Aestivalis squadrons…we don't want any of them to escape," Hong commanded, as officers rushed to obey his commands. "Deploy the fast-attack cruisers to the perimeters. Shoot down those silver swarms!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"Admiral Hong has engaged the fleet, sir," a communications technician reported as Admiral Harada appeared onboard the bridge of the _Guardian_.

"Good. How goes the battle?"

"It appears the Admiral has the situation totally under control."

"Good. When he's done, have him escort the fleet to the _Guardian_." _The safest place on Mars right now is this space-fortress, _Harada thought.

Suddenly, klaxons began going off and the warning lights blinked a rapid yellow.

"What's going on?!" Harada demanded, hands gripping his control console in a death grip.

"Boson readings have gone off the chart! Massive fluctuations around the space station!"

"Prepare for imminent attack!" Harada ordered above the clanging klaxons. "An attack here? Was the first attack a ploy to weaken their main objective?" Harada whispered to himself.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"What is this?" Saburouta asked in abject wonder, looking around him with amazement.

Ryoko whistled. "This is something all right."

"An underground city…?" Haley-kun murmured softly.

Beyond the initial rock outcroppings and past a narrow passage almost hidden behind a set of stalagmites, the four _Nadesico_ crewmembers found themselves in a cavernous underground chamber, devoid of any normal outcroppings of rock. The surface was a smooth, shiny, and black, like obsidian, except the entire chamber was composed entirely of this substance. What feeble light was given off from Saburouta's flashlight was quickly absorbed by the rock, lending the cavern a grayish overtone and giving it a mysterious feel. Ahead, vague outlines of buildings or structures of some sort could be seen towering high above them; ovoid and smooth projections of a material that seemed to reflect what little rays of light the flashlight gave off.

"It appears to be an outpost of some sort," Ruri remarked. "This cavern is far too small to contain anything large enough to be termed a city."

"If it's not a city, then what is it, and what is it doing here?" Haley asked, perplexed. "This is kind of a strange place to live…"

"Well, while don't we go check the ruins out then, wonder boy," Saburouta replied, ruffling the boy's hair. "They probably has some answers to your questions."

"Wonder boy?" Haley asked, annoyed, before noticing that Ruri had trailed behind the group, and seemed to be studying something closely far off in the distance.

"Eh? Captain, what's up?" Haley-kun asked.

"Over there," Ruri said softly, lifting a ghostly pale finger.

"What? I don't see anything…." Haley-kun trailed off before gasping in shock.

"What the heck is that?!"

-----------------------------------------------------------

In its usual fashion, the Unknown fleet boson jumped almost on top of the _Guardian _and its defenses, but this time the UEC was more prepared than it was in the near-disastrous First Battle for Mars.

Almost as soon as the Unknown fleet had materialized, the _Guardian_ alpha-locked and fired nearly all its weapons. Space became a veritable fireworks show as five gravity blast cannons, sixty-two laser turrets, and one hundred seventy-nine missile silos all opened fire at the same time. The large gravity blasts rammed through Unknown formations, exploding several ships at once. Smaller laser blasts peppered the fleet, weakening distortion fields and chipping off armor plating. Missiles drew deadly and fiery patterns through space as they homed in on individual Unknown ships, bypassing the distortion field and exploding with devastating effect. Entire portions of the Unknown line vaporized instantaneously.

The bridge aboard the _Guardian_ erupted in cheers as battle reports came streaming in.

"Estimated enemy losses hover around ten percent, sir!"

"Good, keep up continuous firing! Reinforce this sector with everything we've got!" Harada ordered. "This must be their next major attack, and they're going to aim for a knock-out blow," he muttered to himself.

"More boson manifestations are on the scanners! Second wave incoming!"

"Bring our ships up to the line!"

"Relaying orders sir!"

As the battle raged around the _Guardian_, on the other side of Deimos, which the fortress was built on, the ships of the UEC 1st, 3rd, and 7th fleets fired up their engines; together with the _Guardian_, the bulk of the UEC's remaining firepower was amassed at this particular sector, awaiting the inevitable Unknown attack.

While the _Guardian's_ missile banks and laser turrets continued to blast Unknown ships out of space, several dozen heavy battleships lined themselves up around the moon and near the fortress, taking positions carefully chosen by Harada that afforded them the maximum amount of firepower.

"Boson reactions increasing! Arrival of second wave imminent!"

Harada stood up on his feet, watching the visual display eagerly, warrior's blood pulsing through his veins. "Charge the gravity blast cannons!"

"Volley will be ready in ten seconds…"

"Second wave has arrived!"

For a second, there was silence as the entire bridge crew looked up at the visual display. The screen was filled with row after row of silver-plated ovoid vessels; a fleet on a scale that Harada nor anyone else on Mars could have imagined. As far as the eye could see, there stretched an armada of battle-worthy vessels that no mind could have ever conceived.

"Gravity blasts charged!"

Harada continued to stare at the screen, shocked, before he managed to shake himself out of it. "Fire at will!"

Explosions ripped through the Unknown formations as dozens of gravity blasts fired simultaneously. Yet, for all the destruction the UEC battleships had unleashed, the fleet seemed hardly dented. Hordes of silver mecha emerged from the underbelly of their motherships, zeroing in straight for the _Guardian_.

"Deploy Aestivalis squadrons to tangle with the swarms! Retool the targeting systems on the smaller laser turrets to anti-mech firing patterns!" Harada ordered.

"Increase in boson reactions detected!"

"Another wave?" someone speculated out loud.

"No, it's their primary weapon," Harada corrected. "Do we have CC missiles online?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Get them online! How long will that take?"

"One minute, sir!"

"We may not have one minute! Get them loaded as fast as you can!"

"Hai!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Klaxons went off in the soldiers' lounge, and the artillery crewmen leapt to their feet as a voice boomed over the intercom directing them to their stations. Within fifteen seconds, the entire company of artillery had their stations manned.

At one particular battery, First Lieutenant Job Danzig's command phone rang off the hook. Grabbing the archaic device, Job pressed the telephone against his ear. "1st Battery, 22nd Artillery, reporting."

"Are the batteries manned?" Danzig's commanding officer asked.

"Yes, sir, they are."

"Good. The Admiral wants a deployment of CC missiles, box pattern. Lock and load. You have sixty seconds."

"Yes sir," Danzig replied before slamming the phone down. "Boss wants CC missiles, box pattern!" he yelled down the line to the waiting artillerymen. "Lock and load! We've got sixty seconds! Go, go, go!"

Immediately, hands pressed red buttons and more klaxons went off as conveyer belts near the rocket systems activated and began spinning. Immediately, sets of CC missiles began to roll out of the armory, each packet containing four missiles; the rocket systems themselves held four packets. Strong arms grabbed the packages, and with the help of several other men, the loaders began pushing the heavy missile packets into the rocket launch system.

-----------------------------------------------

"Bogeys inbound, 42nd Squadron," a remote voice chirped into Colonel Robert Kell's ear. "Intercept and destroy. Don't let the get past the Green Line," the voice ordered, referring to the innermost defensive line of the _Guardian_.

"Roger that," Colonel Kell, commanding officer of the 42nd UEC Aestivalis Squadron, replied. Toggling his comm switch, he addressed the rest of his squadron. "You heard him, boys. Search and destroy; don't let any get past us."

Several hundred silver mechs came barreling in as the eighteen-mech squadron opened fire with guided rockets and assault rifle fire. Space lit in a series of bright explosion as Aestivalis and Unknown mechs engaged in a desperate duel to the death.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sure is getting hairy out there," Danzig observed as his crew pushed the third packet into position. "You guys have fifteen seconds left," he told the crew, as he observed the battle. "Stick that fourth packet in there so we can fire the battery!"  
"I wish he'd help out," one of the loaders grumbled.

"He can't; he's the commanding officer. Not supposed to do grunt work like this," another replied irritably as he struggled with the last packet. "Damn, this thing's heavy."

"Commanding officer my ass," the first loader muttered. "All he does is sit there and look pretty!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kell lay a whithering stretch of assault rifle fire down in a concentric arc, catching several mechs and exploding them at once. Despite that, a pair of mechs zipped past, penetrating the Green Line and rapidly approaching the _Guardian_. Kell swore and gestured at his wingman.

"Nimon, get after them! Protect the _Guardian _at all costs!"

There was a double-click in response, and a single Aestivalis peeled off to engage. Suddenly, a lone Unknown mech rammed straight into Nimon's Aestivalis, and the two exploded spectacularly in an orange fireball, giving the two breakaway mechs a chance to wreak havoc on the station.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"What's that?" Danzig asked curiously, as he peered at two rapidly approaching shapes in his binoculars.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Command, this is Kell from the 42nd," the Colonel said tiredly into his comm. "We're having some trouble holding back the swarms. Be advised there are at least two, repeat, at least two, Unknown mechs that managed to break past the Green Line."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Did you hear that?" Harada asked. "Unmask the laser batteries! Open fire within the Line! I want those mechs taken out before they damage anything!"

The "safe zone" behind the Green Line erupted into fire as the retooled laser turrets poured fire into the zone, in an attempt to tear apart the two mechs that were skillfully dodging and maneuvering their way around the barrage. Two laser blasts caught one mech and fireballed it in space, but the other kept on charging hard towards the _Guardian_.

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"What the hell…" Danzig asked in amazement as laser blasts roared around his battery. "What is going on?"

"I think the Lieutenant's clueless," the loader observed quietly. "He knows we're in a war, right?"

"Just a bit slow, that's all," another solider replied as they slid the last packet into place. "Battery is ready to fire!" He reported to Danzig.

"Good," Danzig replied, turning around and picking up the phone. "Command, this is the 1st Battery of the 22nd. Ready to fire at your orders."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Launch the CC missiles now!" Harada ordered.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Five laser blasts tore into the last silver mech, shredding away its thruster engines and corkscrewing it into an uncontrollable spin down towards the _Guardian_.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Fire the missiles!" Danzig ordered right before the world exploded.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The crippled silver mech slammed right into the 1st Battery, killing Danzig and his rocket crew instantly and detonating the rockets, spewing CC crystals uselessly out into the Green Line. The mech ripped through the armor plating of the space station, hurtling through several hundred feet of rooms, men, and weapons, before exploding in a spectacular explosion that crippled the CC missile batteries.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The missiles won't fire sir! The launchers have either been knocked out or the electronics are disabled!"

Before Harada could curse, another bridge crewmember shouted out, "Boson reactions have peaked!"

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Harada turned to stare at the visual display of the main bridge. A series of flashes erupted across the breadth of the Unknown fleet; a series of scintillating sparkles that for a second dazzled Harada's eyes. On the screen, space seemed to undulate in a series of waves for a split second, and then the screen shattered into a million pieces as a tremendous roar split Harada's eardrums and a thunderous explosion knocked him to the ground.

A sheet of flame washed over him, and Harada could feel his eyebrows singe as they were flash-burned away. Alarms and klaxons went off wildly, and sirens began blaring, but despite all the noise, Harada could hear the wild agonizing screams of men with missing limbs or horribly burned bodies as they writhed in an effort to escape their pain.

A series of boson particle streams had slammed into the UEC position, tearing out chunks from Deimos itself and hurling pieces of lunar rock into space. The fortress _Guardian_ itself was damaged almost to the point of destruction; nearly all of its weapons went off-line with the first volley, and those that still worked had virtually no crewmembers to operate; many of the dead from the fortresses were floating in space, victims from explosive depressurization as the boson particles ripped away the armor plating protecting them from the vacuum of space.

Similarly, boson particle blasts powered through the remaining UEC fleets, bursting apart distortion fields like soap bubbles and twisting once straight hulls into crumpled masses of reinforced steel, detonating ammunition racks and annihilating entire decks of capital ships. Much of the UEC fleet disappeared in wreaths of flame.

Harada pulled himself off the ground and slowly got up to his feet, in a daze. His uniform was dirty and torn, and he felt blood trickling from a head wound down his face and neck. Absent-mindedly wiping the blood away with a similarly bloodied hand, he surveyed the wreckage of what was once the bridge of the _Guardian_. Fires lit the interior brightly in lieu of the lights that had been knocked out by the succession of boson particle blasts. The few crewmembers that survived had either fled in panic or struggled painfully to their posts.

"Get me a comm line to the orbital stations," Harada ordered weakly. "Tell them to expect incoming enemies. Call a general withdrawal. Salvage what we can." Harada grimaced as a sharp pain lanced through his side. "Evacuate the _Guardian_ immediately," he managed to croak out before he collapsed unto the deck.

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_The preparations have broken through the defenses._

_The Destination has been uncovered?_

_One obstacle remains before it falls into our grasp._

_What of the shield? It has not been activated?_

_It remains inactive._

_The two Gifted, are they present at the Destination?_

_Yes. Near a well-known site._

_See to it they are taken. Do not let them activate the site._

_Yes. And what of the Restrainer?_

_Still incapacitated, is he not?_

_Yes._

_Is his location known?_

_Yes._

_Dispose of him._

_It will be done._

_Victory belongs to the Conscience._

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"Captain, what is that?" Haley-kun asked in a mixture of amazement and terror. Both he and Ruri were looking at what appeared to be a rusted metal exoskeleton of a gigantic praying mantis. It's twin photoreceptor eyes were dark in deactivation, and its body was propped shakily against a wall of one of the buildings; metal scales littered the floor, almost completely rusted through; a sign of the age of the remains of the robotic monster.

"They've been to Mars before…?" Ruri murmured quietly.

"Who's been to Mars? Have you seen one of these before?" Haley-kun asked.

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With the _Guardian_ and the UEC fleets out of the way, the Unknown armadas crashed headlong into the orbital defense platforms. Holding out for only a few minutes, the gravity blast cannons and laser batteries on the platforms managed only a few volleys before they were completely overwhelmed by superior numbers and annihilated. With a huge gaping hole in the Martian defenses, Unknown dropships, escorted by silver mechs, dropped down into the atmosphere.

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One dropship landed near a hospital. As the silver vessel slammed into the ground, throwing up clouds of suffocating dust and annihilating entire blocks, a lone comatose patient in the hospital suddenly opened up his eyes and sat straight in bed.

_She's in trouble_!

The vicinity around the dropship and the hospital disappeared in a white-hot flash.

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"We've lost communications with the _Guardian_," one of the communications techs reported. Admiral Hong raised an eyebrow in slight confusion.

"Are we being jammed?"

"No…the signal just suddenly disappeared."

"Under attack? Even if they were, we'd still be able to establish radio contact," the Admiral mused quietly. "Could they be…?"

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The entire cavern lit with a light so bright that for a second Haley, Ruri, Saburouta, and Ryoko couldn't see a thing. As their eyes adjusted to the sudden illumination, the four observed with awe and terrified fascination that the entire cavern was glowing a golden yellow; the very walls and obsidian buildings seemed to be pulsing with energy.

With terrific force and an ear-splitting roar, a single ray of golden light ripped through the cavern ceiling, vaporizing the rocks until it reached open air. Shooting out into the sky, the light split apart into several smaller beams, and as the four _Nadesico_ crewmembers watched in abject fascination, explosions began to light up the sky.

"…What the hell was that?" Saburouta asked incredulously.

The invading dropships of the Unknown armada were instantly vaporized by the golden rays, and as the beams raced onwards, more dropships and silver mechs vanished until the entire invasion force seemed to be wiped out. More golden rays pumped out of the glowing cavern, and beams of gold arced outward into space, exploding entire squadrons of ships before the Unknowns boson jumped away safely, retreating from the destructive power of the beams.

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_It has been activated._

_How?_

_Two of the Gifted were at the site and activated before we reached them._

_And of the third?_

_We approach her as we speak._

_What of the Restrainer?_

_Unfortunately, he has awakened._

_Has he been dealt with?_

_His resistance has been more resilient than expected._

_But he is still predictable, is he not?_

_Yes._

_And that shall be his downfall, despite his strength. His love for the Third will spell his doom._

_Yes._

_Victory hath been given to the Conscience on this day. Go now, and ready the next set of preparations._

_Yes._

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The quiet after the spectacular display of firepower was eerie. As Haley-kun, and the others looked skyward with mouths hanging open, Ruri took a look around the cavern. The golden glow had disappeared by now, but with the light of day pouring through the vaporized roof, Ruri could see small scintillating crystals embedded into the smooth black obsidian. Pressing her hand against a wall, Ruri could feel heat emanating from the rock.

"A system?" she asked quietly.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The captain of the _Harbinger_ sighed with relief as more Unknown ships began dropping off the scanner readings. His charge was safe, his ship was safe, and so far, things seemed to be going well. The captain was just about to issue the call to step down from general quarters when more alarm klaxons went off.

"What's going on?" he asked sharply, alarmed.

"We've been breached! There's a boarding party aboard the ship!"

"There's a what?!"

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Misumaru Yurika was lying in bed, all but comatose, when suddenly her eyes flew wide open. Gasping in surprise, Yurika gave out a small squeak of pain before curling up into a ball. Breathing in short, sharp bursts, Yurika could feel a strange sensation on her face, and knew that boson particles were running through her, lighting up mysterious arcane marks on her face and body. She was about to boson jump something…or someone…against her will.

"No…I don't…want to!" she wheezed out painfully before everything went white.

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"What's going on?" Admiral Hong asked sharply as the screen suddenly filled with bright white light.

"I'm detecting a boson reaction within the _Harbinger_…"

"Within?"

"Yes…it's strange."

As the white light receded away, the Admiral and the bridge crew studied the screen closely. To their surprise and amazement, the _Harbinger_ had completely disappeared.

"What happened to the ship?" Hong asked in disbelief.

"It just…vanished, sir."

"Vanished? How could it? UE Spacey ships can't boson jump!"

No one had an answer to that.

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It had been three hours since the attack, and the sun was setting below the horizon, casting a reddish glow over the remains of the defenses on Mars. Ruri and the other _Nadesico_ crewmates were at the hospital, looking at the damage caused by an Unknown vessel that had mysteriously disappeared as soon as it had touched ground.

The hospital was in ruins; two of its three wings had been completely leveled, and many of the patients and hospital staff were dead, or, ironically, severely injured. One of the wings that had been completely destroyed was Akito's.

"You haven't been able to locate his body at all?" Saburouta asked.

The engineer shook his head. "We've completely cleared the rubble from that one wing. If there was a body in there that fit his description, we would've found it. He could have been vaporized by the explosion, I suppose, but…"

"The explosion wasn't that powerful to begin with," Saburouta finished quietly.

"Yes. The most confusing part of this whole thing is the disappearance of that dropship. If I didn't know better…" the engineer trailed off.

"What?"

"Well, if I didn't know better, I'd say it was a boson jump. But what's the likelihood of that?" the engineer said over his shoulder as he walked away.

Saburouta shook his head and walked back to the group. Haley and Ryoko were watching Ruri with worried expressions on their faces. Glancing over at her, Saburouta saw that Ruri was standing in the midst of the hospital rubble, looking around, as if searching for Akito.

"Maybe we should…" Haley began, falling silent as Saburouta put a hand on his shoulder.

"Just leave her be," he said quietly. "She needs to be alone for a while."

Haley-kun looked as if he was about to protest, but then dropped his head and nodded slowly, his fists clenched.

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The sun was setting behind Ruri as she slowly walked through the ruins of the hospital, the dying rays casting a reddish tinge on her pale skin. Her eyes swept slowly back and forth, scanning the wreckage with scientific precision. Her face betrayed no emotions, and she walked calmly with her hands held serenely behind her, as if she was taking a stroll in the park.

Yet, even as she walked with such composure, she could feel tears welling in her eyes.

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A/N: Whew! Another chapter done!

This is the turning point of the novel. We're about…two-thirds of the way to the end, I think. Almost there! This has been quite the project.

This time, I used the layout as a stylistic device. As the chapter progresses, the scenes and paragraphs get shorter and shorter, and the general picture becomes more and more confused, until at the end, all you know is that people are dead, Aktio's gone, and Ruri's on the verge of tears.

That's exactly what I want. I think it helps make the confusion of the battle more realistic to the reader. As the story progresses, details of what exactly happened will be made clear, and by the end, everyone should know what happened in this chapter.

I also introduced something new, with those….voices, I suppose? The "Conscience." If you noticed that their language shifted from very Shakespearean to more modern English, there's a purpose to that. You'll find out who they are, too. And no, they're not the praying-mantis aliens that are so stereotypical for this genre. Those guys are just…stereotypes, lol. You'll see who they are, too.

I'm pretty satisfied with this chapter, but if you don't like the stylistic change, or anything else that I've done, feel free to review and criticize me. All it does is ruin my day (hahaha, just kidding). I want to hear from the readers, so please, review!

Thanks for sticking with this story so far! Updates have been few and far between, but I hope they're worth it.

Ja ne! Next chapter will be fun!


	11. Chapter Nine

_Mars was burning around her._

_Disoriented and confused, she staggered around the burning city blocks, ruined buildings towering above her, belching thick black smoke into the fiery red sky. All around her, she could hear the sickening screech of metal girders twisting under the weight of their charges, followed by the deafening crash as another steel monolith succumbed to the oldest of dangers…fire._

_Dragging herself around the fiery ruins of a once-busy street corner, she saw the remnants of the clothing store where she…but it was only a burned-out husk. Not worthy of the memory. She took a few more halting steps, where her weary, blood-shot eyes and shell-shocked ears took note of the collapse of another building, this one a restaurant where she had…but that wasn't worth the recollection either._

_Or perhaps she just didn't remember?_

_Endless, agonizing hours seemed to pass by as she staggered painfully down each city avenue, watching each individual building burn and crash to the ground. A distant part of her mind wondered at why there were no people around; no one to scream and thrash as fire ate them alive; no one to cry out in fear as their home tumbled down and buried them alive._

_Turning another corner, she felt her fire-scorched lungs seize painfully in surprise, and even though she fell to the ground gasping and coughing in sudden pain, the image was burned into her mind's eye: the broken remains of a hospital, a place of healing and rest that had been transformed into a bastion of destruction and agonizing death. The right wing of the hospital was totally demolished, razed to the ground; the center wing had large portions of it missing, as if it had been a meal for some horrendous monster. The left wing, though structurally intact her mind thought rather coldly, was gutted by fire, and even now in the aftermath of the city's destruction, she could see the flames licking hungrily in the air, searching for any organic matter it could pounce on and consume in its quest to stay alive._

_Why was this place so important to her? she wondered. What significance does this place have?_

_It slammed into her with hurricane force, her mind's eye punishing her for forgetting something of such vast importance. _Him, it's all about him_, it screamed at her as it pushed her to the ground, robbing her of all of her energy with hacking, dry coughs as her abused lungs searched for oxygen. She could see him as the hospital burned, comatose in his bed, but waking up right at the moment of death, a cruel gift from whatever sadistic deity lay out there…she saw him screaming, writhing in pain, his handsome face framed by an agonizing crown of pure, red fire, and his hand, the skin sloughing off, reaching to grab her in its bony, iron grip…_

* * *

Ruri bolted from her bed, her sweat-soaked covers flying away from her, and she would of screamed in pure terror if she had not clamped her hand over her mouth in time, biting into it so hard that she drew blood. Drawing her damp nightgown closer around herself, she shivered and hugged her knees, fighting off the last remaining wisps of her nightmare. 

Shaking her head violently to and fro to free herself of the last vestiges of tonight's demons, the young captain gingerly shook herself out of bed, her knees trembling and her arms weak.

The vid-screen appeared so suddenly in front of her that she almost yelped in surprise, but Ruri managed to regain her composure before Haley-kun materialized in front of her.

"Captain, you should report to the bridge in five minutes," Haley informed her in a business-like tone, though his eyes were anything but. Looking around apprehensively for a second, Ruri watched as Haley keyed something on his control panel, and the word "private" appeared in the lower-right hand corner of the vid-screen.

"Captain, you look—"

"Haley-kun, if this is a private channel, you may refer to me as Ruri," she interrupted politely, in an attempt to lock herself solidly into reality. She could still distantly see the burning city…

Haley looked slightly peeved. "Okay, cap…er, Ruri. But seriously!" he waved his hands around to convey his distress, "You look terrible! What happened?" he demanded.

Ruri shifted her gaze away from him, chewing on her lower lip, showing an unusually larger amount of emotion than she usually did. Haley caught the warning signs quickly. "C'mon, Ruri," he urged. "You can tell me."

"Just…had trouble sleeping. That is all," Ruri half-lied, turning away from the vid-screen and collecting her captain's uniform.

Haley-kun wasn't buying it. "Captain, you know, I –"

"Ruri," she corrected coolly as she arranged her uniform on her bed.

"Ruri, whatever!" She could hear the exasperation in his voice now. "I can tell when you're hiding something from me. This is serious stuff. You can't keep it inside you forever, you know!"

The young teenage girl began to undress herself, peeling off her nightgown in exchange for her captain's uniform, not saying a word. She could almost hear Haley-kun turn red and turn away from the screen, though he was unwilling to turn it off. _He's persistent, today_, she thought, both gratified and annoyed.

"You know, Ruri, it's not good for you to bottle up whatever you're feeling inside. It's going to hurt," he said crossly, eyes dutifully kept away from the screen. "I'm your friend, aren't I, Ruri? I'm like a little brother. You can share it with me, can't you? You trust me, don't you?" His accusatory tone cut into Ruri deeply, though she refused to show it.

"Of course I trust you," Ruri replied, acting as unruffled as ever. "You really are like a little brother to me. I am fine, however. I really am," she promised unconvincingly, as she turned back to the vid-screen, fully clothed for the day. "And you can turn your head back now, Haley-kun."

Haley swiveled his head back into view, but this time his demeanor was as stone-cold as Ruri's had ever been. "Captain, report to the bridge in two minutes," was all he said, and then the vid-screen vanished.

Seconds later, Ruri emerged from her captain's chambers, setting off for the bridge at a brisk pace, hands balled at her sides.

"He's acting very strange today," she noted sourly, not realizing the irony of her statement.

* * *

"Everyone's acting so strange today," Saburouta observed sourly, flinging away his captain's _Ururun_ manga (which he had reread for the tenth time) and resting his head on his control panel. Instead of the usual responses his remarks elicited from the bridge crew, only dead silence greeted the Jovian lieutenant, providing solid evidence to his statement.

Saburouta glanced to his left and watched as Haley-kun studiously studied his display, his face flashing between successive phases of pouting and worry. To his right was the planet Mars, and though the fires raging below were interesting to look at for a while, Saburouta had been staring at them recently for three hours.

Leaning over his console, the pilot looked downward and watched Yoshizumi Kotone as she sat quietly in her helmswoman's chair, hands in lap, staring down at the floor and, if Saburouta knew her well enough, biting her lip in worry. Every now and then, she would glance over to the starboard window, and watch the fires of Mars burn.

Right next to her, Kawabata Akira was equally silent, his drawling and obnoxious voice painfully absent in the still air of the bridge. He was twirling his earphones on one finger, while flipping through a stack of music CDs with the other, his face screwed up in a feigned look of deep concentration.

Sighing deeply out of boredom, Saburouta slumped in his seat, and twirled around until he faced Haley. "So, Haley…anything on the comm systems?" he asked desperately.

The young lieutenant made a quick check of his systems. "Omoikane says there's an incoming message from the surface, from the newly established UEC base."

The Jovian snorted in contempt. "Yeah. New command base, since their old one got blown up."

"I'm having Omoikane bring up the message right now," the boy replied, unfazed by his retort.

A vid-screen instantly appeared, revealing the form of Admiral Hong, newly appointed commander of the Mars defense fleet. "As you know," the Admiral began in his gravelly voice, "with the death of Admiral Harada, I have been appointed to oversee all defense operations on Mars. With this recent setback, I'm afraid that the remaining UEC fleets will have no ability whatsoever to fend off another Unknown assault."

"What?" Saburouta demanded heatedly. "So we just let the bastards take the planet?"

The recording continued, oblivious to the Jovian lieutenant's angry words. "Fortunately, with your recent discovery of this ancient Martian defense system, our presence may not be needed. We're reasonably sure that the defense system is active, and will remain active, to protect against future Unknown attacks. As a result, the _Nadesico_'s presence has now changed from a defensive role to an offensive one."

"What does he mean by that?" Haley-kun asked quietly, as the doors behind him opened and Ruri stepped unto the deck.

The image of Admiral Hong faded away to that of a map of Mars and the surrounding area. "A delaying force will pull back to form a defense line closer to Mars, where we can rely on support from the new defense system. The rest of the fleet will move to Earth for repair and replenishment. As for the _Nadesico_, you will be released from my command, along with _Amaryllis_ as escort. A new boson jump gate has been constructed on the earthward side of Mars to facilitate the retreat. However, with you, it will serve a different function. Being the only two undamaged ships at Mars, you are the only ones capable of this mission.

"If all goes well, an inserted team of Jovian engineers will have constructed a similar jump gate halfway between Mars and Jupiter, far past Unknown lines. _Nadesico_ and _Amaryllis_ will jump to this gateway, and proceed to Jupiter. When you reach the new jump gate, codenamed Point Harada, contact the command post for more information. Good luck." And with that, the vid-screen disappeared.

"What the hell was that?" a sour voice observed from behind Saburouta. Leaning backward, Saburouta saw Ryoko, hands on hips, with an angry look on her face.

"What is it, my love?" Saburouta asked innocently.

"The Admiral's sending us off on a suicide mission, stupid!" Ryoko barked back, elbowing him in the head. "Doesn't that worry you?"

"Wherever the Admiral sends us, we must go," Ruri replied quietly, taking her seat. "Besides at this point…it doesn't really matter."

"What's that mean, Ruri?" Ryoko asked brusquely, still digging her elbow into Saburouta's forehead.

"If we don't go, the Unknowns will kill us at Earth. If we do go, in all probability we will die somewhere between Jupiter and Mars. No matter which course of action we decide, we will die," Ruri replied, with an almost devastated look in her eyes.

With that, the entire bridge fell silent. Kotone started to sniffle, Akira gripped a CD with bone-white fingers, Ryoko and Saburouta exchanged worried looks, and Haley gazed at Ruri with pain in his eyes.

"How long until Point Harada is ready for us?" Ruri asked softly.

"The mission notes say two days," Haley replied in a pained voice.

"Very well." Ruri stood up abruptly. "If that is all, I will be in my quarters."

The bridge was dead silent as the doors hissed shut behind her.

* * *

"Damn it all!" Grand Admiral Misumaru Kouichiro yelled at the top of his lungs, his face beet-red and tears streaming in waterfalls down his cheeks. "Where is she?"

"Grand Admiral, I really can't answer that question…." Admiral Hong replied uneasily, taking a step back from the vid-screen.

"Where is my Yurika? Where did my darling daughter go? Answer me!" the Grand Admiral cried, pressing his face against his screen.

"Our sensors reported a boson jump within the hospital ship _Harbinger_…" the newly appointed UEC commander of Mars said, backing away further from the vid-screen.

The Grand-Admiral's vid-screen doggedly chased after Admiral Hong, pursuing him up and down the command center. "And? Where is my precious daughter? Is she okay? Is she hurt?"

"…Grand Admiral, I am unable to answer that question."

"Answer me, or I'll strip you of every rank you have!" Kouichiro screamed.

Admiral Hong whitened considerably. "Now, now, calm down Grand Admiral…to be perfectly honest, the only thing we know is that there was a boson jump in the _Harbinger_…and then the ship vanished."

There was a shocked silence. "It…vanished?" Kouichiro whispered hoarsely.

"Yes, sir. The ship vanished…presumably as a result of the boson jump. There were no first-class jumpers aboard—"

"Except for my daughter…"

Admiral Hong nodded somberly. "That is correct, sir. We have no idea why she boson jumped, or where she boson jumped to. Considering the context of the situation the _Harbinger_ was in, only one location makes any sense whatsoever."

"And what location is this?" the Grand Admiral asked, intense worry etched unto his face.

"Jupiter, sir." Admiral Hong winced as he heard a thud through the vid-screen. "Grand Admiral? Are you okay, sir?" The Admiral studied the screen for a second before sighing.

"I think he fainted," he murmured to himself.

* * *

"Today has been a terrible day, y'know?" Saburouta groused, as he set his feet on top of one of the cafeteria tables.

Ryoko sat down next to him, sliding over one of two Mars bowls that she had picked up from the line. "Oh, how so?" she asked somewhat sarcastically as she liberally poured soy sauce over her meal.

"Well, first of all, our captain's so depressed she thinks we're all going to die…" Saburouta began.

"Idiot, I was there for that. Tell me something I don't know," Ryoko snapped back.

"And then, everyone's acting all weird too," Saburouta went on, oblivious to Ryoko's comment.

"Hey, are you ignoring me?" Ryoko asked testily, cracking her knuckles.

"Hmmm? Did you say something?"

_Crack!_

* * *

"Grand Admiral? Sir, are you still there?"

Admiral Hong heard a groan as Kouichiro picked himself wearily off the floor. The Grand Admiral suddenly looked extremely old. "Yes, I'm still here, Admiral."

Hong nodded slowly. "If it is of any reassurance to you, sir, if your daughter is near Jupiter, we'll find her."

"Oh? How so?" the Grand Admiral asked dejectedly.

"We're sending a task force into Jovian territory in a few days, as a matter of fact. If anyone can find your daughter and the _Harbinger_, and bring them back to safety, I'm sure they can," Admiral Hong replied back confidently.

"And who are we sending?" the Grand Admiral asked, curious.

Admiral Hong grinned. "The _Nadesico_."

* * *

"You know what? I'm just as worried as you are about Ruri," Ryoko thought aloud, as Saburouta nursed a fractured skull.

"I'm glad you care," he grumbled. "What do you think we should do?"

"Well, we've got to cheer her up first," she explained. "Won't do if the ship's captain is all depressed. It's bad for morale, y'know?"

"I thought that was obvious from the beginning."

Ryoko whacked him lightly on the shoulder. "I'm just making sure we're on the same wavelength here!"

"Fine, fine," Saburouta chuckled. "How do you propose we go about getting the captain's mood up?"

"Well, who's the closest to the captain?"

"Why, Haley, of course. They're practically lovers."

Ryoko punched him in the shoulder again. "Don't be perverted, Saburouta, or I'll belt you one."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" the lieutenant cried out, shielding his head with his arms. "They are really close though, you have to admit," he said cautiously from behind his arms.

"Which is why we should get Haley to talk to Ruri."

"You think that'll work?" the Jovian asked, a worried look on his face.

"What do you mean?"

"Well…Haley's been acting really strange, too. Like he doesn't even want to look at the captain, even though he's worried sick over her."

"Unusual behavior, indeed," Ryoko mused.

Saburouta gave her a strange look. "You're acting weird too."

"Huh?"

"You sound like the captain right now. Talking all smart and stuff."

"What, am I supposed to be dumb or something!"

Saburouta grinned mischievously. "I won't comment on that."

_Crack!_

* * *

Out in the vast wastelands of space, somewhere between the asteroid belt and Jupiter, a small team of Jovian engineers were busily erecting a boson jump gate for the planned arrival of the _Nadesico_ and her escort.

Group Captain Nanasawa checked over his time charts one last time before beckoning to the chief engineer. "Comrade, we are nearly an hour behind on the construction," he complained worriedly. "Is there anything you can do to fix the situation?"

The engineer shook his head. "Sorry, but if you want us to go faster, either get us more men or conjure a Gekigangar out of your pocket. This is as fast as we can go."

Nanasawa bit his lip. "We're well within the margin of error as far as time is concerned…but I don't want to stay in enemy territory any longer than necessary. Every second we spend here increases the chances that our activities will be noticed."

The engineer nodded in agreement. "I know what you mean. We'll try to hurry things up. By the way," he added in a whisper, "have you heard the rumors?"

"What rumors?"

"The things the Unknowns do to the captured."

Nanasawa shivered. "What?"

The chief engineer glanced around to make sure everyone else was fully occupied before he began to speak. "They say that the Unknowns operate with a kind of hive mentality; several minds linked into one…overmind, let's say."

"Okay…what does that have to do with the captured?"

"What better way to understand the enemy than to have the mind of the enemy?"

"You mean…?"

The engineer nodded grimly. "Yep."

Group Captain Nanasawa shuddered in revulsion and fear. "Redouble your efforts, chief engineer. I want this done as soon as possible, so we can get out of here!"

* * *

"So, how about it, Haley?" Ryoko asked brightly.

The young boy slumped in his seat, his eyes shifting between her and Omoikane's status read-outs. "I don't know…" he muttered. "I don't feel like seeing her."

"What do you mean, 'don't want to see her?'" Saburouta retorted. "The last time she was in trouble, you practically tackle-hugged her."

"Oh, shut up, you," Ryoko snapped, observing Haley's face turn bright red. "C'mon, Haley, this is for Ruri's own sake. You saw how she was."

Haley's face wilted for a second, before he swiveled his chair away from them. "I just don't feel like talking to her, okay? Leave me alone!"

Saburouta sighed, plopping down into a nearby chair and resting his feet on top of the console. "Haley, I may act like an idiot sometimes, but I can tell when something is up. There's something wrong, Haley. What is it?"

"Yeah, Haley, you can tell us," Ryoko said, friendliness infused in her voice.

The boy hesitated for a second. "I…well…" he shook his head, frustrated. "It's just that all she does is mope around because that Tenkawa guy disappeared!" he shouted, anger surging through his voice.

"We don't even know if he's dead, and yet she goes and gets depressed on me! She never reacted to anything before with that much emotion before! What's wrong with her?" he cried, smashing his fist against the console. "Why can't she show she's human around me too, huh? It's always about him! Him, him, him!

"And you know what?" he screamed, tears starting to trickle down, "She won't let me do anything at all about it! I've tried, you know that? I've tried talking to her!" He angrily wiped at his eyes with his sleeve. "But all she does is close herself off! It kills me! So, I don't want to talk to her right now, okay? Leave me alone!" And with that, the young teenager ran off the deck, the doors hissing shut behind him.

Saburouta and Ryoko exchanged stunned looks.

"Oh my," the Jovian whispered.

"Yeah, this is pretty serious," Ryoko murmured back.

"I think…someone's pretty jealous!" Saburouta snickered. "He really does have a crush on our captain now, doesn't he?"

Instead of landing a solid blow to his head as usual, Ryoko merely sighed and rubbed her eyes with one hand. "Geez, Saburouta, can you act any more idiotic? Is that all you think about? Romantic relationships? What has that _Ururun_ manga done to you?" she asked pointedly.

Saburouta merely shrugged. "In any case, we can't count on Haley anymore, he's too angry," he said, suddenly turning serious. "Guess it's up to you."

* * *

Gone again, she thought dejectedly. _For the third time now._

Slowly, she got off the floor, where she had sat curled up in a ball of sadness, and picked up the single picture frame that stood on her desk. It was a picture of her in that cute dress she wore for the Nadesico idol contest, and standing right next to her…was him. With that goofy grin on his face, one hand resting on her head, the other giving the "v" sign for victory.

_Whatever happened to those times, when you were always with me?_ She thought dejectedly. _Always there with a nice word, with something kind and thoughtful to say. Now all you do…is leave me behind._

_Why can't we be together like we used to be?_

Ruri wiped at her eyes, and glanced at herself in a mirror. She looked like a mess, her eyes puffy and red with dark bags below them, her face pale and her hair disheveled from the horrors of the previous night's sleep.

She looked away and sighed. "Maybe I should take a bath," she murmured.

* * *

"Huh? Why me?" Ryoko demanded.

"Well, after Haley, the person that knows her best on this ship right now is you," Saburouta replied, winking. "Now, get a move on!"

"Now wait a second here, buddy!" Ryoko retorted angrily, digging her elbow deep into Saburouta's head again. "You expect me to just waltz up to her and ask her what the hell is going on?"

"Well, you could say it more tactfully than that, but yeah, that was the gist of it," the Jovian wheezed out.

"Look, I may know Ruri, but I don't think I know her well enough to be comfortable talking to her about such a sensitive subject! Why don't you talk to her? You've been her XO for a few years now, you should know her pretty well!"

"Well I suppose so," Saburouta said slowly, rubbing his head. "But you probably don't want me to do that, Ryoko."

"Oh, and why not?" she asked testily, hands on hips.

"Knowing me, I'll probably say something highly inappropriate and make things worse."

Ryoko paused, startled. "Huh, I guess you're right."

Saburouta grinned. "Well, it's settled then!"

"What's settled?"

"Since I can't do it, that leaves only you!"

Ryoko glared at his menacingly. "You know that this probably won't end good."

The Jovian merely shrugged. "I trust you'll come up with something."

Ryoko snorted. "Fine, I'll go talk to Ruri. You go do something useful while I'm gone, fly-boy."

"Hmm…I think I'll check up on Shinta-san while you're away," Saburouta mused.

"Why?"

"I hear he's installing some funky new stuff on the Aestivalis and on the hull of the _Nadesico_."

Ryoko groaned. "Okay, that sounds bad. You better go check that out."

"But of course…_my love_," Saburouta called out as he glided out of the dining hall, winking.

Startled, Ryoko blushed red…and then noticed the cafeteria had gone dead quiet, the various crewmembers pretending to eat with barely hidden grins and mischievous eyes that glanced her way every now and then.

"What the hell are you looking at!" she snapped before huffing and puffing her way out of the room.

* * *

"How goes progress on the jump gates?" Admiral Hong asked, deep inside the new UEC command facility built on Mars.

"They're a bit behind schedule."

The Admiral frowned. "They know that every minute counts. How far behind are they?"

The operations officer furrowed his brow for a second. "The communications link said they were an hour to an hour and a half behind schedule. Still within the time limits we embedded into the operations planning."

Hong snorted. "Yeah, they're within the limit by about ten minutes. That's cutting it a bit close, officer."

The operations officer flushed a bit at the rebuke. "Of course, sir."

"I guess we'll just have to make do; the insertion team was a bit under-manned," the Admiral sighed.

"The assignment wasn't exactly a choice one, sir," the operations officer agreed.

Admiral Hong laughed softly. "War is never a choice assignment. With luck, the _Nadesico_ will be able to save the Grand Admiral's daughter and find out something about the Unknowns that we can exploit."

"What happens if they fail?"

"Oh, that's easy, officer," the Admiral said amiably, turning to face him. "Have you ever wondered what it was like, dying? I heard it's a wonderful thing." Hong turned to check the status boards, then faced the ashen officer again. "Make sure the insertion team gets the job done on time."

"Y-yes, sir!"

"Intelligence! Anything unusual along the front line?" Hong called out, striding away from the operations officer.

"Actually, sir, you might want to know about this."

"What are those Unknown bastards planning this time?" Hong asked, reaching the Intelligence desk.

"Well, it doesn't look like they're planning an attack."

"Then what's so dangerous about this?" the Admiral asked crossly.

"It's strange that they're pulling ships off the frontline, and for no apparent reason whatsoever. We've never seen an Unknown ship need or undergo extensive repairs, yet they've moved at least fifty ships off the FEBA and back towards Jupiter, sir."

"Hmm…I wonder what trick they have up their sleeve now?"

"No idea; it just doesn't make sense. Why go back to Jupiter when the enemy's right in front of them?"

"Excellent point, officer. Track the movements of that group; give them a new operational group code, and keep me informed of their whereabouts. I don't want anymore funny business from these guys," Hong ordered before exiting the command room. _What are those devils planning now?_ he thought as he made his way to his personal quarters.

* * *

The bathhouse aboard the _Nadesico_ was completely abandoned when Ruri arrived. She didn't really mind; it just meant that she had the solitude she had hoped for, in order to silently contemplate whatever ruinous events lay ahead in her life.

Quickly undressing, Ruri shivered in the cold air as she made her way to the ship's hot spring; for some reason, the ambient air temperature in the changing room was always a few degrees colder than the rest of the ship, and she could feel goose bumps spreading across her arms.

Settling down into the almost burning-hot water, she let herself relax a bit and felt the tension slowly leave her body. Leaning her head against the wall, she sighed heavily and closed her eyes, letting her mind wander…

* * *

Ryoko paced around her room, rubbing her hands together nervously. "How am I supposed to approach her?" she asked out loud, distressed. "I'm no good at this whole talking thing. What should I say?"

The hot-tempered pilot stopped, tapping her foot as she scratched her head, puzzled. "Ruri normally doesn't say a whole lot. Maybe I should just be really blunt and ask what her problem is?" she mused.

Adopting a stern posture, Ryoko pointed an accusatory finger at the wall. "Hey, you!" she barked. "What's the matter with you…okay, that was stupid," she sighed, shaking her head. "It'd be better to be more discreet. How about…." After a moment's contemplation, Ryoko adopted a more casual stance, leaning against the wall.

"Hey Ruri," she began a bit more softly, "wanna talk about something? I'm always here to listen." Ryoko gauged the effectiveness of that before shaking her head again. "That was stupid, too." She glanced at the mirror and scowled.

"Damnit!" she yelled angrily, punching the wall. "How'd he sucker me into doing this?"

* * *

Whistling amiably, Saburouta walked past the hissing sliding doors and entered the cavernous Aestivalis hangar bay. Waving a hand in greeting to the passing maintenance staff, the Jovian pilot shambled over to where his Aestivalis sat, looking for the _Nadesico_'s notoriously psychotic maintenance chief.

What he saw made his jaw drop.

"Shinta, what the hell is that?" he asked pointedly, walking a bit more quickly to his beloved Aestivalis.

"No!" Shinta screamed in a manic panic, jumping down six meters from the mech's shoulder, landing miraculously without any physical damage, and rushing to Saburouta's side in a matter of nanoseconds. "You are not allowed to see this! This is classified Top Secret! You get that?" he demanded, poking a finger into Saburouta's chest while trying to cover his eyes. "This is my newest masterpiece! It must be preserved!"

"Aw, get off of me, you crazy fool," Saburouta snapped back. "I want to know what you did to my poor Aesti!"

"Yeah!" a female voice spoke up, and the two men turned around to see Hikaru and Izumi close by, hands on hips, with displeased expressions on your face.

"You too?" Shinta asked, exasperated. "Why must this happen?" he screamed as if in despair, holding his head in his hands. "I was so close to completion! So close to actualization! So close to achieving instrumentality!"

"Instrumentality?" Hikaru asked, eyebrow raised.

"Instrumentality…working on an instrumentality project…" Izumi murmured before rolling on the floor, laughing hysterically.

"I don't know, it sounded cool. Like, from a movie or something," Shinta shrugged, rubbing his neck. "What, you don't like it?"

"That's besides the point," Saburouta replied, annoyed. "I want to know what you did to our Aestivalis'."

Shinta grinned mischievously, pushing his glasses up his nose. "What you see before you know, kind sir," he began grandiosely, sweeping his arms across the hangar, "is the dawn of a new era in mech combat! An ability so astounding, so terrifying, that it will strike fear and terror in to the hearts of our Unknown enemy!"

"Yeah…" Hikaru said slowly. "So…how come our Aestivalis' look like a bunch of old fogeys?"

"Where I come from, old men collect bundles of sticks for firewood," Izumi whispered, before collapsing again into fits of uncontrollable laughter.

* * *

"Y'know Ruri, we all noticed that you were looking pretty down lately, and Haley was all worried, but he was all like, 'I don't want to talk to her,' so that leaves just me. Uh…you wanna talk?" Ryoko paused, her face a mask of extreme pain. "Okay, that was definitely not me talking there. That was way too…blah."

Ryoko sighed, rubbing her temples as she leaned against her chair. "Okay, Ryoko, think. There's gotta be something you can say."

"Hey, Ruri, you need to cheer up. Let's arm-wrestle!" she suddenly blurted out before slapping herself. "Seriously!" she screamed. "Where the heck did that come from? Who says that!"

* * *

"Old fogeys?" Shinta asked, confused, turning around to survey his modded-up Aestivalis' one more time.

Modifications had been made to three of the four Aestivalis', with heavy packs added to the back of each Aestivalis. Missiles could be seen being loaded into the pack, which, with its weight and subsequent stress on the humanoid machine's back support frame, caused the mech to sag and take on a "hunched-over" appearance. The wrists, ankles, feet, and hands of each mech had been heavily reinforced with bracers, on which similar-looking packs were installed. This had the effect of making the arms and legs seem thinner than they actually were, and had the overall contribution of making the Aestivalis look weaker and more fragile that it actually was.

In fact, it resembled an old man.

"What have I done?" Shinta screamed in pure agony as he writhed on the floor. "I have desecrated my creations! My poor babies! What have I done to you?" he cried in despair, reaching for a flame torch. "Fear not, my lovelies!" he declared, crawling to Saburouta's Aestivalis on his hands and knees, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I will free you from your chains!"

"Hold on just a second!" Saburouta shouted, pulling Shinta back and knocking the flame torch out of his hand. "Tell me what those packs are first."

"They're Gekigangar Missile packs!" Shinta declared, vainly trying to reach out to the flame torch.

"Seriously, what are they?" Hikaru asked.

"…boson missiles." Shinta replied glumly, looking slightly guilty.

"Boson missiles?" Saburouta asked sharply. "How'd you get your hands on so many? Access to them is strictly limited!"

"They were just sitting there!" Shinta protested. "I'm innocent! They were begging to be taken and tinkered with!" He began doing a victory dance around the hangar bay. "Behold my Gekigangar Missile packs!" he declared jubilantly. "Fear them! Fear them greatly!"

Saburouta swore violently. "This isn't good," he muttered to himself.

* * *

Ryoko gritted her teeth and slammed her fist into the wall. "This is no good," she growled to herself. "I can't do this!" Sighing heavily, she grabbed a towel out of one of her closets and ambled down the hallway. "Maybe a bath will clear my mind," she mumbled to herself.

* * *

Ruri quietly gazed into the still waters of the hot spring, as if trying to coax some kind of hidden revelation from the steamy, murky water. Her gaze shifted to her reflection, wavy, vague, and ambiguous, much like her mind, as she wrestled with the emotions that threatened to overwhelm her.

"Why did he have to leave?" she asked, before suddenly whipping at the water with a violent slicing motion of her hand, as a brief spell of anger surged through her.

"What is it about that idiot that every girl falls for?" she cried, before she gasped in shock, sinking even lower into the hot spring waters. _What's happening to me?_ she thought, as shame flooded her. _I've never acted like this before. I've always been in control._

She gazed at her reflection longingly. "What do I really feel about him?" she asked the watery image. "I know it's love…but what kind?" Memories returned to her conscious mind, as she recalled those bittersweet memories of her time on the _Nadesico_ and with Akito and Yurika after the war. The feelings of warmth and of a heart beating slightly faster every time she saw him on the bridge or in the cockpit of his Aestivalis…the feelings of happiness and embarrassment when he clapped for her, and her alone, after her performance in the idol contest…the joy and sheer bliss when she lived with him, and Yurika, and managed the ramen cart with them, together, like a family…._Is it the love for a father that I feel, or is it the love for a man? Can they be one and the same? Or irreconcilably different? Which one do I feel?_

After five minutes of hard thinking, Ruri reluctantly decided that she honestly didn't know, making a mental note to check her _Ururun_ manga in case the answer was conveniently hidden among its illustrations.

_I do know one thing_, she thought, determination beginning to replace despair. _I need to see him one more time. Just to tell him. He's still alive. I know it._

* * *

"Okay, you," Saburouta said, glaring at Shinta and poking him in the chest. "I want those gone. Now."

"Fine, fine! I'll take them off!" Shinta grumbled, picking up his flame torch. "They looked terrible on them anyway." The maniacal engineer chuckled, his glasses flashing, as he moved off to tear down his new toys.

"Wait a sec, you," Saburouta said, placing a hand on Shinta's shoulder. "There's something else I need to ask you about, as well."

"Eh? What might that be, captain, my captain?" Shinta replied, looking suddenly nervous.

"It's about the _Nadesico's_ hull…" Saburouta trailed off, peering closely into the engineer's eyes.

"Er, the hull? Ah, yes, the hull! Beautiful thing, isn't it?" Shinta laughed nervously. "Keeps the whole ship together, that it does! Can't have a ship without a hull! No, siree! No way at all!"

"Yes, indeed. Shinta-san…what's on the hull?"

"Um…the UE Spacey logo."

"Anything else?"

"The name of the ship?"

"Anything else?"

"Armor plating?"

"Cut the crap, Shinta," Saburouta said crossly. "You've got boson missiles installed on the hull too, don't you?"

Shinta leaped back, holding the flame torch like it was a weapon. "You can't make me tell you!" he declared defiantly. "You'll never take me alive!" And with that, he went running off, moving with near-inhuman speed.

"Make sure you take those damn missiles off the hull too, you crazy freak!" Saburouta yelled after him.

* * *

Ryoko walked into the bathing area, and almost ran right into her captain, who was changing into her captain's uniform.

"Oh! Ruri! Uh, fancy meeting you here!" Ryoko said, surprised.

"I felt a bath would do me some good," Ruri replied, with a ghost of a smile.

Feeling slightly encouraged, Ryoko swallowed nervously and forced a weak grin. "Well then, that's good to hear. Um…speaking of 'doing some good,' can we talk?"

The capain looked at the pilot with some surprise. "Talk about what, Ryoko-san?"

"Um…just…about, you know, current events. You've been, uh, acting…er…kind of…um, strange lately. We were just, you know…um…worried…." Ryoko stammered out.

"Ah, I see," Ruri said, a shadow crossing over her face. Ryoko winced. "However, there is nothing wrong anymore. I have dealt with the issue myself," Ruri said, the shadow lifting and disappearing as quickly as it had come.

"Really?" Ryoko asked, startled.

This time, Ruri smiled for real. "Yes. Thank you for your concern, Ryoko."

Ryoko blushed as she sighed in relief. "Hey, no problem, Ruri. But, um, what're you going to do now?" she asked out of curiosity.

"I must see him. One more time."

"Huh?"

"I should probably go and apologize to Haley-kun for my behavior," Ruri replied simply as she exited the bathing area.

Smiling, Ryoko queued up a vid-screen and rang up Saburouta on the hangar deck.

"Hey, what's up?" Saburouta's image asked.

"Ruri's fine now," Ryoko said, grinning. "She's going to the bridge to see Haley-kun. Sounds like a heartfelt reunion, if you ask me. You coming?"

"Wouldn't miss it. Once I'm done with dear Shinta-san, here," Saburouta grumbled, as the vid-screen panned over to Shinta wielding his flame torch, chasing a screaming Hikaru and giggling Izumi. "I will avenge myself!" the engineer faintly screamed, as he chased the two luckless pilots.

Saburouta rolled his eyes. "Be over there in five."

"What idiots," Ryoko huffed, laughing softly, as she closed the screen.

* * *

Five minutes later, a sobbing Haley-kun tackle-hugged his captain, sending the two of them crashing to the floor of the bridge.

"It's about time the bridge returned to normal," Saburouta said as he leaned against a computer console. A warning vid-screen from Omoikane appeared, but the Jovian merely pushed it away.

"Yeah. It looks like crew morale has gone up now that the captain's back to normal," Ryoko happily observed, as she watched Akira share crass wise-cracks with Kotone, who was back to her happy, bubbly self.

"Just in time too, for our new orders," Saburouta said quietly.

Ryoko exchanged a worried look with him. "Yeah. We're setting off for Point Harada in three hours."

* * *

"Sir, did you see that?" the chief engineer asked, pointing out into the wastelands of space.

"No, what're you talking about?" Group Captain Nanasawa asked, queuing up a vid-screen of the nearby sectors.

"Over there, a flash of light. A reflection, maybe?"

Nanasawa peered at the scanning charts. "I don't see anything. Where are the high-power manual scopes?"

"Right here," the engineer replied, handing over a heavy set of binoculars.

"Okay let's see…" the Group Captain was quiet for a second as he scanned the area. Suddenly, his face turned white and the scopes clattered to the floor as he lunged for the comm unit.

* * *

"Incoming transmission from the infiltration team!" the UAE headquarters comm officer reported.

"Queue up the screen," Admiral Hong ordered. "What's going on, Group Captain?" he asked as Nanasawa flashed on-screen.

"We've been detected!" the Group Captain nearly screamed in a panicky voice, his face ashen and his eyes wild-looking. "A whole fleet of Unknown ships are bearing down on us!"

"Give us an ETA," Hong barked.

"Estimate four hours before they arrive, if they don't boson jump on top of us."

"Can you finish your work before then?"

"I don't know, sir!"

"Well, you better finish, otherwise it means the death of us all!" Hong snapped back angrily. "Get yourself together, Group Captain! Your objective is to finish the gate, and then you may run and hide. Do everything in your power to fulfill your objective. Out."

"Sir, don't you think that was a bit…" the comm officer trailed off.

"Harsh? Inhumane? Not at all," Hong replied. "The fate of humanity rests in his hands. Let's hope that his hands are the right hands."

* * *

A/N: Hey guys! Been a while, eh? I've got to tell you, I've been really busy these past months! College applications have been killing me! It's total hell, I tell you. NEVER, under any circumstances, apply to more than five colleges, much less ten! Ten just ain't worth it. Not unless I get into all ten, lol!

In any case, with college apps, and duel enrollment as a high school senior and a college freshman at one of the local universities for my math and English courses, life has been a bit hectic. Make that very hectic. But, with the new semester starting, I've been able to finish this chapter. If you notice a big difference in writing quality in the middle somewhere, sorry. That's me being rusty. Might take a while to get my writing mojo back.

In any case, sorry for the REALLY uber long wait. I bet no one reads this anymore but what the hey, writing it is fun! Hopefully, I'll have enough time to write the next part in less than half a year!

Oh, and don't you love the cliffhanger at the end? I love it! You love it! We all love it! Sorry about the lack of fighting, but there'll be plenty of that next time. Had to…bring some closure to the previous chapter's events, and flesh out some relationships. Hope y'all like the new chapter! Ja ne!


	12. Chapter Ten

"I see that you're heading to Point Harada right now," Admiral Hong said crisply as his vid-screen suddenly materialized unto the Nadesico's bridge, before noticing Ruri and Haley entangled on the floor. "Well, what do we have here?" he asked suspiciously, with a raised eyebrow.

"Resolving some…morale issues, Admiral," Ruri quickly replied, dusting herself off and standing up, a slight tinge of pink in her cheeks.

"Yes, I can tell…in any case," the Admiral coughed lightly, "I'm sure you are aware of your current mission parameters, am I correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, they just changed a bit."

"Sir?" Saburouta asked uneasily from the side, sharing a look with Ryoko.

"We just got a message from the insertion team. They are being approached and will soon be in contact with the enemy."

"What!" Haley cried in alarm. "That ruins everything!"  
"Not if we get there first," the Admiral replied coolly. "The enemy task force is a small one. You should have sufficient firepower to defeat them. But that requires you jumping in before they reach the insertion team. Our engineers don't exactly have the firepower or the expertise to keep them at bay for long."

"How long until enemy contact?" Ruri asked.

"A matter of hours, we think. Reach Point Harada as quickly as you can. We are deploying a security screen around our side of the gate in case the enemy breaks through before we're ready to send you over. If worst comes to worst, you'll have to bull your way into the gate."

"A boson jump under enemy fire?" Saburouta asked incredulously.

"Yes, it'll be a first for the history books, won't it?" Admiral Hong replied with a sly smile. "Humanity's first CBJ."

"Huh?" Haley-kun looked blankly at the Admiral.

"Combat boson jump, child," Hong said as he signed off, chuckling.

"Who came up with that stupid acronym?" Akira asked obnoxiously from his comm console far away.

"In all likelihood, the Admiral himself," Ruri said, seating herself into the captain's chair. "Proceed on a direct course to the jump gate," she ordered quietly, "and raise the alert status to level two. Prepare for possible enemy contact. Estimated time of arrival?"

"Oh, I'd say an hour or so if we push the engines, Ruri-chan," Kotone said, with a bubbly smile.

"Then push the engines as hard as you can, Kotone-san," Ruri said with a small smile.

"Great. This is just great," Saburouta muttered acidly to himself.

"You can complain later. Let's ready the Aestivalis squadron for deployment," Ryoko said, dragging the Jovian lieutenant out of the bridge.

* * *

Jun took a deep breath, reveling in the smell of a newly repaired warship. Heavily damaged in its last sortie against the Unknowns, the _Amaryllis_ hadn't been repaired in time for the last titanic battle between the mysterious enemy and the UAE fleets, but now it was the cruiser's turn to shine.

"Status report," he ordered crisply as he settled comfortably into his brand-new captain's chair, complete with leather and a personalized name-plate on the back.

"Phase transition engine operating at maximum efficiency; laser turrets are reporting no maintenance problems; operating and combat systems are nominal, all systems green," was the reply.

"Good." Jun smiled, satisfied. "Let's get going. We've got a date to keep."

"Right away, sir."

"Give me an estimated time of arrival."

"From our current location…a little over an hour."

* * *

"They seem to be getting closer," the chief engineer observed, causing Group Captain Nanasawa to nervously look out the viewport. The small scintillating sparkles had grown noticeably bigger…they seemed more like flashes of light, sending a cryptic message of impending death to the thoroughly stressed Jovian.

"How long until the gate is complete?"

"A matter of minutes, sir."

Nanasawa breathed a sigh of relief. "They're still pretty far away. Once it's complete, charge up the gate and let's get the heck out of here!"

At that, the chief engineer chewed his lip and shifted his eyes to the floor. "Sir, there's a bit of a problem with that."

Nanasawa stared at him. "No. I don't want to hear it."

"We'll finish the gate in no time sir, it's the charging up part that'll take a while. If everything goes to plan, we should be able to leave," the engineer glanced briefly at his checklist, "in forty minutes or so."

Nanasawa snatched the engineer's checklist out of his surprised hands and threw the papers to the floor, smashing the heel of his military boots into them and grinding down hard. "Damn it, chief!" he screamed, his face pale with fear. "We may not have forty minutes!"

"We'll work as fast as we can," the engineer promised hastily, bowing and quickly leaving the room.

With a sigh of despair, Nanasawa slumped down into his chair and stared out the window, at the sparkling advance of the Unknown fleet.

"Forty minutes…." he whispered quietly to himself. "In forty minutes, I'll be out of this hell hole. But…but forty minutes is too long!" he screamed, clawing at his face in fear.

He wrung his hands up in despair. "What if they get here before the gate is charged? No," he shook his head vigorously, "they can't. They just can't. No one can move that fast. I'll just leave before everyone else. Yeah, that's it," he said, his eyes suddenly brightening and taking on a manic look.

Nanasawa looked out the window again, this time watching the engineers as they scurried over the mostly-completed gate. "Who's got priority anyway? I can pull rank on them! I'll just…I'll just take the personal shuttle we've got. Yeah. That's it. The minute it's charged, boom! I'm out of here. It'll all be okay," he promised to himself, with a little laugh.

* * *

While the half-crazed Jovian group captain contemplated his escape from enemy territory, strange things were happening at his homeworld, Jupiter.

If the Jovians that had been driven from their home by the Unknowns had returned, they would've hardly been able to recognize their planet.

Orbiting around the gas giant were several large white crystalline structures; honeycombed with passages, hangar bays, trenches, towers, and outcroppings, the orbiting Unknown structures resembled gigantic hives. Despite their overall similarity, each structure was uniquely different in its appearance, making each orbiting station seem like a truly organic being.

Inside one of these structures, a single renegade of both his society and the Unknowns' awoke. Groaning, he gripped his head as a flash of memories briefly overwhelmed him. He had boson-jumped, he knew, but from where? He paused, sitting cross-legged on the hard rock floor, until it came back to him.

The hospital. He jumped from the hospital. But where was he?

Wearily standing up, he surveyed both ends of the hallway, which extended deeper into the station on both sides. Randomly choosing one direction, Tenkawa Akito began picking his way through the vast Unknown space station.

* * *

"So…how far 'till we get there?" Akira asked, bored, as he began flicking CDs one by one across the bridge.

"Oh, give us another twenty minutes, you, and we'll be there," Kotone replied, winking.

* * *

"ETA?" Jun asked professionally.

"Thirty-five minutes. We're beginning to pick up stray transmissions from the security screen."

* * *

_Is the time right?_

_It is difficult to decide. There are many things happening._

_Yes, we must decide how to deal with the two Gifted._

_Their power is diminished with the capture of the Third, but the Restrainer has also appeared._

_Yes, and he is close. Too close. His love for the Third has given him a strong will._

_That is not unexpected._

_Do not worry. He will be disposed of, and the threat will end._

_What preparations have been made?_

_There will be a tribulation awaiting him._

_Very well._

_That leaves only the two Gifted. Has the gate been prepared?_

_It will be operational shortly. We are ready to ride out in victorious battle._

_Very well. Make your preparations._

_Victory hath been given to the Conscience._

* * *

"We're finished charging the gate, group captain!" the chief engineer announced proudly as he stepped into the room. "Huh, that's strange," he said, seeing the room empty, "where'd he go?"

"I'm right here, chief," Nanasawa replied via vid-screen, as the screen materialized over his desk

"Group captain, where are you?" the chief engineer asked, puzzled.

"On the personal shuttle."

"Why?"

"Don't you see? I'm getting the hell out of this place!" Nanasawa said with a maniacal laugh.

"Wait a minute, group captain!" the chief engineer shouted. "The shuttle isn't equipped with a dist…" But it was too late; Nanasawa had closed the vid-screen.

The chief engineer slammed a fist unto the desk. "Damn it!" he shouted angrily. Suddenly, klaxons began going off, and the chief engineer looked around in surprise. "What's going?" he asked aloud.

A vid-screen of another engineer flashed in front of him. "They've arrived!"

* * *

"We've arrived!" Kotone announced proudly.

* * *

"Arrival time estimated at fifteen minutes," the computer onboard _Amaryllis_ mechanically intoned.

* * *

_They have arrived._

_The gate is operational?_

_Yes. We are proceeding._

* * *

Suddenly, jumping the last leg of their journey, the Unknown fleet pounced right on top of the small collection of engineering vessels, scattering them as the engineers fled in panic.

Bursts of plasma fire rained down from the Unknown ships as they aimed to capture the jump gate intact. Plasma bolts slammed into ship after ship, bursting distortion fields like bubbles and exploding them into millions of miniscule dust particles, but one badly damaged vessel managed to escape through the jump gate, bursting out the other end with a sputtering engine and a rapidly failing distortion field.

The dying ship was quickly registered on UEC scanners.

* * *

"Contact! We have a contact from the jump gate! Designating it as contact A," the scanning officer reported.

"Classify it immediately!" Admiral Hong ordered, now aboard the _Misuzu_, the new flagship of the UEC fleet.

"It's an engineering vessel!" Faint cheers arose at the news that at least some of the engineers had survived the mission.

"Incoming transmission, I'm relaying it to vid-screen now," the comms officer said, as a screen of the chief engineer flashed on the bridge.

"We've made enemy contact!" the image practically screamed. "They're coming right be—" Suddenly, the vid-screen disappeared into a haze of static, and the engineering vessel burst into a heart-wrenching explosion. Before anyone could react, klaxons and red lights began going off.

"Multiple contacts emerging from the jump gate!" the scanning officer cried out. "Scanners register two…no, six contacts, designated contacts B to G. Classified as Unknown ships!"

"We have a breach of the gate!" Admiral Hong thundered. "Deploy the screening force! Concentrate maximum firepower on the enemy!"

As the Unknown fleet pushed through the jump gate, Hong's screening force closed in like a net, carrier ships spitting out squadrons of Aestivalis mechs and battleship turrets zeroing in on the gate.

As soon as the first Unknown warship cleared the gate, a gravity blast from the _Misuzu_ tore into it, slicing it in half like a hot knife through butter. The rest of the screening fleet opened up, flaying into the struggling Unknown fleet with gravity blast cannons, laser turrets, and high-explosive missiles. Explosions began lighting up space as the battle began.

* * *

"Scanners report combat activity around the jump gate," Haley-kun announced as he watched the data readouts.

"It looks like we were too late," Ruri murmured.

"Should we deploy?" Saburouta's vid-screen image asked.

"No," Ruri shook her head. "It would take too long to recover you for the boson jump. The screening force can handle themselves. Kotone-san, maneuver us into position for the jump."

"Right away, right away!"

"Haley-kun," Ruri said, looking over at the lieutenant, "do you have a reading on the _Amaryllis_?"

"Yes, they're only a few minutes behind us."

"Very well. Contact them."

* * *

"Incoming transmission from the _Nadesico_," the comms officer said crisply.

"Relay it to my chair," Jun ordered, making himself comfortable.

The screen queued up almost immediately, and Jun smiled widely. "Hey," he said in greeting.

"Captain Jun," Ruri nodded in reply, "are you almost at the jump gate?"

"Last ETA was five minutes," the young man replied. "We're picking up some strange energy readings, though."

"Yes. Apparently, the Unknowns got there first."

Jun frowned. "Great," he said, "how are we supposed to go through the gate?"

"The Admiral will handle that. For now, we have to get into position to jump," Ruri said calmly. "Jun-kun, the _Amaryllis_ and the _Nadesico_ must be well-known to the enemy by now. If they see us, they may very well make us a priority to destroy."

"You're kidding!"

"No, I'm not," Ruri replied, as cool as ever. "Therefore, when you enter the combat zone, I want you to pull up ahead of the _Nadesico_. That way, you can cover us with your anti-mech batteries, and we can cover you against battleships with the gravity blast cannon."

"Sounds like a good plan," Jun nodded in agreement. He was never that good at tactics anyway. "What about the Aestivalis'? Should we deploy them?"

"No, recovery time is too long. We'll be counting on you, Jun-kun, if the enemy sends their silver mechs at us."

"You can count on us, Ruri," Jun promised.

"Thank you."

* * *

Admiral Hong watched as more Unknown ships poured out of the jump gate; this time, there were a sufficient number of them that a few managed to escape from the kill zone and began returning fire.

"Fifth sector is reporting losses," the comms officer said tersely, listening intently to his headset. "It seems the enemy is trying to break through our lines there."

"Redeploy the Aestivalis squadrons to sector five," Hong ordered quickly. "I want to keep as much firepower on the gate until the _Nadesico_ and _Amaryllis_ arrive."

"New wave of ships approaching! Strength is…sixteen ships, all battleship-class!"

Hong grinned. "Looks like they're finally getting serious. Charge the gravity blast cannon!"

"Gravity blast cannon will be charged in ten seconds."

"Contact the _Ever After _and _Minagi_; I want a spread of blasts in the middle of the formation, and then a missile barrage from _Hornet_ and _Kano_ into the outer ring. Let's try to contain this group!"

"Blast cannon, charged!"  
"Fire!"

Three blasts of pure energy lanced out from the three UEC battleships, _Ever After Misuzu, _and _Minagi_, and slammed against the heart of the new Unknown formation. Two ships disappeared in wreaths of flame as hundreds of missiles from the _Kano _and _Hornet_ exploded around them, ripping chunks off of enemy ships as shrapnel and fire tore through the fleet. Laser blasts from nearby cruisers and escort ships pummeled the surviving Unknown vessels, but ten of them managed to free themselves from the kill zone and escape into empty space, where they had the room to maneuver and return fire.

Plasma bolts began arcing through the emptiness of interstellar space, and Harada watched as the _Minagi_ briefly disappeared under a flurry of blasts, reappearing with a few scorches and a flickering distortion shield but otherwise undamaged. Several escort ships exploded, spewing their contents into open space, and Harada saw several flashes of light as Unknown silver mechs zeroed in on the screening force.

"Deploy the light cruisers," the Admiral ordered, "and unmask their anti-mech batteries. I need those mechs shot down!"

"Sir, incoming transmission from the _Nadesico_! She and the _Amaryllis_ have arrived and are awaiting orders!"

"Queue them up on-screen!" the Admiral commanded, as a large vid-screen appeared. "Captain, I'm glad you've arrived," he said, "but as you can see, the enemy arrived before you could get here."

"I apologize for that, but we're ready to boson jump through the gate," Ruri replied solemnly.

"This will be a bit tough," the Admiral said, biting his lip. "There's an Unknown force at the gate right now. Proceed as planned; we'll lay down a covering fire to pin them down, but expect to come under attack. We can't keep them all away from you, but we'll sure as hell try!"

"Thank you Admiral," Ruri replied with a ghost of smile before signing off.

* * *

_The two Gifted have arrived._

_They plan to use the gate?_

_Not entirely unexpected._

_We were supposed to have secured the gate before use._

_It is too late, and of little consequence anyway. Perhaps we can make use of this situation._

_A lure? A bait for the Restrainer?_

_That depends on the rapidity of the two Gifted in their movements._

_If they arrive on time, it may serve as a powerful check._

_It is too risky. They may turn on us. Better to eliminate them._

_Yes, that is the best course of action for now. Make the proper preparations._

_But of course._

_May there be victory for the Conscience on this day._

* * *

"Power up the phase transition engine, maximum power," Ruri ordered, swiveling to face Haley-kun. "Charge the gravity blast cannon, wide-ranging beam. We may need it."

"Yes, captain!" Haley replied, tapping in commands for Omoikane.

"Saburouta-san?" Ruri asked, as the Jovian's face perked up.

"What is it?"

"As soon as we jump, deploy the squadron. I want you to cover the _Nadesico_ and _Amaryllis_ while we clear the jump gate on the other side."

"Of course, captain."

"Hey, watch it, buddy!" Ryoko's vid-screen popped up, her face red with anger. "I'm the squadron commander here! You can't just take command from me!"

"Oh? Who said I can't? I'm the better pilot, remember?"

"Says who?" she shot back. "You wanna fight?"

"May I remind you, _who_ saved your cute little behind the last time we were behind enemy lines?" Saburouta asked with a wink.

"Aha!" Hikaru chimed in with a mischievous look in her eyes. "What do you say to that, eh, Ryoko-chan?"

Ryoko flushed a deeper red. "Idiot!" she retorted. "I didn't need helping!"

"Didn't seem that way to me," Saburouta murmured seductively.

"A knight, rescuing his maiden," Izumi said quietly as her vid-screen materialized. "Or maybe a cowboy choosing his steed," she murmured as she began giggling.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ryoko asked, irritated, as she cut off Izumi's screen.

"Fools," Ruri sighed to herself, as she closed all the vid-screens with a flick of her finger.

"Captain!" Haley shouted, turning to his commanding officer, a girl only a few years older than himself.

"What is it, Haley-kun?"

"There's been a change in enemy formation! Unknown mechs are charging straight at us, and the battleships are rotating to unmask their batteries along our axis!"

"Prepare to fire the gravity blas—" Ruri stopped in surprise as another vid-screen popped up in front of her, this time one of Jun.

"Now, wait just a minute, Ruri," Jun said with a grin. "Leave the mechs to us. You take care of the battleships, okay?"

* * *

The _Amaryllis_, just ahead of the _Nadesico_ at this point, suddenly turned in a divergent angle, positioning itself between the battleship and its high-speed miniscule pursuers. Laser turrets trained out in the general direction of the approaching mechs, and high-powered scanners interrogated the vector, locking in the various targets. The tracking information was fed automatically to targeting computers, and the turrets retrained and made slight adjustments as they each individually locked on to a charging silver mech.

With a command from the captain, the laser turrets opened up, flaying the Unknown squadrons with precise blasts. Missiles burst forth from their racks, locking on and zeroing in on the remaining mechs, their plumes of exhaust ending in bright fireballs.

As the _Amaryllis_ suppressed and broke up the enemy charge, the _Nadesico_ pulled ahead and rotated on its own axis, unmasking its gravity blast cannon in the direction of the enemy fleet. Seconds later, a beam of pure black energy laced with crackling bolts of electricity burst out of the barrel, and the gravity blast, the strongest in the UEC fleet, slammed into the Unknown fleet with unrestrained fury and force, as the enemy vessels disappeared in a flash of blinding light.

* * *

"Enemy mechs have been suppressed, and the enemy battleships destroyed," Haley-kun noted with delight. "Enemy fire is slackening off; we've got a clear path straight to the jump gate!"

"Fire up the phase transition engine," Ruri ordered, "and resume formation with the _Amaryllis_. Let's get going."

"_Nadesico_, you are clear to hotdrop!" Hong's voice bellowed over the bridge. "Repeat, _Nadesico_, you are clear to hotdrop!"

"Hotdrop?" Haley-kun asked, confused. "I thought it was a CBJ."

"He must have changed it," Ruri speculated.

"But why?" Haley demanded.

"Because, a CBJ sounds stupid, Haley," Saburouta chimed in over the intercom.

* * *

"No enemy activity detected; no more contacts emerging from the jump gate," the scanning officer reported onboard the _Misuzu_.

"Good," Admiral Hong replied. "Keep a close eye on the read-outs. I don't want the _Nadesico_ and _Amaryllis_ running right into another fleet."

* * *

"Distance…three kilometers and closing…two point five kilometers and closing…." Haley-kun reported professionally as the jump gate loomed ever closer.

"This is it," Saburouta whispered quietly over the intercom.

"Charge up the gravity blast canon," Ruri said after a moment's reflection.

"Already did," Haley replied with a wink. "Set to wide-spread, just in case."

"Excellent, Haley-kun."

"Distance one kilometer…five hundred meters…three hundred meters…one hundred meters…we're in," Haley announced in a hushed voice.

All the bridge members aboard the _Nadesico_ looked up from their consoles and screens and out the bridge windows, as multi-colored swirls of light slowly swallowed the _Nadesico_ and _Amaryllis_, engulfing them in eerie shades and tones of color.

"How is the distortion field holding up?" the captain asked.

"Solidly at ninety eight percent. No damage reported, no leaks reported. This ship is airtight," Haley proudly stated.

"Good," Ruri answered, "Now we wait."

* * *

_They have entered the gate._

_How soon until their passage is complete?_

_Any moment now._

_And the preparations?  
On schedule._

_Will we meet them at their new location?_

_No. We know where they are._

_We know where they are gong._

_We know what they plan to do._

_Their course of action is simple._

_Too direct._

_Too blunt._

_Too obvious._

_We will be waiting for them._

_We will surprise them._

_We will crush them._

* * *

****

A/N: One of the shorter chapters in this work, I think…only nine pages on Word. Usually, chapters are about twelve to fifteen pages. This chapter includes only the battle because, well…that's all that really needed to be fit in.

The events following this battle are so long and drawn-out that if I were to include them in this chapter, it would easily be…oh, twenty pages long. And that's just too much scrolling to do. So, I decided I'd take that stuff, stick in a different chapter. All I got to do is just right it now, lol. Besides, some pretty pivotal stuff just happened…you just don't know it yet, lol!

I enjoyed this chapter; it was nice to get back to some action. Though, I think most of you enjoy the tangled love triangles more than the action. I'm not sure which I prefer. Everyone loves tangled love triangles, but sci-fi space battles are pretty cool too, ne?

Okay! With luck, next chapter will be up soon! Ja ne!


End file.
